.,~ ..

Vol. 7 No, 9

~CROWSNESTTHE ROYAL CANADIAN NAVY'S MAGAZINE JULY, 1955

LADY OF ,THE MONTH

CONTENTS

Page

RCN Nel1J$ Reviel1J 2

W in.ferin,g ;n. th.e A n.tarctic 4

T11.e Govern.or Gen.eral an.d the Navy 7

Officel"s an,d Mell 9

Prelude to Coronel 12

Sailin,g Aroun,d Africa '. ....... 13

First..Han.d Ph.ilately 17

.Afloat and Ash.ore 18

Autobiograph.y of a Hurricane 21

Wartinle Flapjacks Remembered........................ 22

Survivin.g in the Wildern,ess , ,................. 23

Th.e Navy Plays , " .. , 25

LOl'ver Dec/( Pr0l11.otions I....... 28

Naval Lore Corn.er Inside Back Cover

Cover Photo - Knot the ankles, bring the opening down

slnartly /to trap air in the legs, and you have an elnergency life

Hjacket". The picture was taken at HMCS Cornwallis where sea­

men in training learn such useful bits of nautical lore - and,

furtherlTIOre, the scene is a cool one to gaze upon during the dog

days.'(RCN'photo by Lieut.'C8BY"Monte"Evereit, RCN(RY.Y'

Authorized as Second Class Mail, Post Office Departlnent, Ottawa.

The arrival of lIMes Wallaceburg atI-Iamilton, Ontario, heralds the start of thissummer's reserve training program on theGreat Lakes, The Wallaceburg, which withthe Portage and Minas form the 11th Can..adian Escort Squadron, is .shown on theopposite' page as she comes alongside ·thelawn-edged wharf a.t HMCS Star.

While the Great Lakes are not new tothe Wallaceburg-she was a visitor to thoseparts as far back as eight years ago-theactivity in which she will participate dur..ing 1955 will be far greater than in the"old days", No less than 15 ships will takean estinlated 1,500 Reserve officers andmen to "sea" in the Great Lakes for train­ing this SUlllnler.

The honour of bejng the first ship of thisyear's training fleet· to arrive at Hanliltonis well...deserved by the Wallaceburg. Com~

missioned at Port Arthur in November,]943, the Wallaceburg was .enlployed inconvoy escort work during 1944-45. Placedin reserve following hostilities, she wascommissoned again in 1947, and since thattime has been employed for varying periodsin anti..submarine and minesweeping train­ing duties.

Negative nUlnbers of RCN photographsreproduced in The Crowsnest are includedwith the caption for the benefit of personswishing to obtain prints of the photos.

This they may do by sending an order tothe Naval Secretary, Naval Headquarters,ottawa, attention Photographic Section, quot­ing the negative nUlubef" of the photograph,giving the size and finish required, and en­closing a l110ney oi'der for the full alllount,payable to the Receiver General of Canada.

Sizes, finish and the new National Defencestandardized prices, follow:4:x: 5. (01' Slnaller) glossy finish only •. $ ,1061A~ x 8~~ glossy finish only •..........• ~40

8 x 10 glossy or matte finish ....•...•• ~50

11 x 14 Inatte finish only '. . . . • . . . . . • . . . . 1.0016 x 20 ••.•••••••.•••• 3.0020 x 24 . • • • . • • • • . • • • •• ,4.00

30 x 40 ••••••••••••••• 8.00

SUBSCRIPTION RATEThe Crowsnest may be sub­

scribed for at: the rate of $1 for12 ,issu.es.

Persons d~$irous of receivingtheir own" private copies by mailsh~uld send their orders, accom­panied by cheque or money or­der made out to the ReceiverGeneral of Canada, to:-

THE QUEEN'S PRINTER,75 St. Patrick Street,

Ottawa, Ont.

Page one

RCN,guard of honour pays its respects to Toussaint louverture, hero of the independence of Haiti, during the call at Port·au·Prince of the FirstCanadian'Minesweeping Squadron which returned to Halifax May 1 ,after slx·week training cruise to the Caribbean. Cdr. H. B. Carnall, sqlladroncom,mander, placed a wreath on behalf of Canada. (HS.35658) ,

Redr·AdmircirsRurik for Twp

'Tlie promotionofCoxrtrnodore Ken":neth F. Adani~, ,CD, Commanding Offi~eel,' Naval' Divisions, and CommodoreHerbert S. ,Rayner, DSC and Bar, CD,to ~~e' rank'·of. rear-admiral, effectiveMa&- 21,' 'was announced by the Hon.Ral'p'h Campney, Minister of NationalDefence.

R'~'ar-Admiral Rayner's promotion wascon(jpI.'rent with his taking up the ap­poiJatment of Chief of Naval Personnelat if~val Headquarters.

;Riar-Admiral Adams has been in hispreljent appointment since the formationat ij:amilton, on April 27, 1953, of asepl\rate establishment to administer theRC+;{(R) and the 2~ naval' divisionsacrq.lls Canada.

D1,.lring the 'Second World War heco~inanded the destroyers Assiniboine,Ottcy.vaand Iroquois, and the auxiliarycruiliers Prince David and Prince Henry.His. wartime !ihote appointments in­clu4~d commahtl of Stadacona on twoocc~~ions and ~Qmmand of HMCS Som~

ers Isles, the R~N sea training base in'Bermuda.

Rellr-Admiral Rayner was NavalAss{~ant to the Chief of the NavalStafi before' taking up his new appoint­men.t as' Chief of Naval Personnel. Hesucceeds Rear-Admiral'Hugh F. Pullen,OBB, CD, who was to become FlagOfficer Pacific Coast on July 7.

During the Second World War, Rear­Admiral Rayner commanded the de­stroyers St. Laurent and Huron and

Page two

held staff appointments at Halifax andat Naval Headquarters.

Before going to Ottawa in Januaryof this year he had commanded theMagnificent since March 11, 1953.

lUBE AwardedFor 'Copter Mission

Naval helicopter pilot Lieut. WallaceElmer James, has been appointed tothe Most Excellent Order of the BritishEmpire (Military Division) (MBE) forhis rescue of a badly-injured lighthousekeeper off Cape Breton, N.S., last fall.Lieut. James is at present serving inthe helicopter detachment on board theMagnificent;

Lieut. James flew a HUP-3 helicopter270 miles from Shearwater to St. Paul'sIsland, at the northern tip of CapeBreton Island, to bring the keeper toSydney, N.S., for hospitalization. Theman had suffered a fractured skull andbadly-wounded arm in a dynamite ex­plosion. The mercy flight took placeon October 26.

Lieut. James took off at 4.30 a.m., twohQurs before dawn, with AB John P.Friedrich as crew. At 7.30 they pickedup ,a doctor at Sydney and continuedthe rescue mission in the face of highwinds, low visibility and snow flurries.On the final leg, which inVolved a flightover 18 miles of ocean, they encounteredturbulent winds, while visibility was re­duced to as little as 500 yards.

They ,landed amid 'swirling snow onthe island, in poor terrain and tricky

winds. Lieut. James had to, keep hisrotors going throughout the three-quar­ter-hour period the doctor took to attendto the patient and bring him to themachine.

The return trip was accomplishedwithout further incident' and the finallanding at Dartmouth concluded a mis­'sion lasting eight and a half hours.

The first two hours of the trip hadbeen in extreme darkness, with onlytwo lights visible on the ground asguides to a flight otherwise accomplishedsolely on instruments-no mean feat inhelicopter piloting. Later, the adverseweather conditions frequently precludedadequate visual reference to the ground,necessitating a return to 'instrumentflight.

The citation states: "The courage andskill displayed by Lieutenant James incarrying out this operation' under ad:­verse conditions resulted in the savingof . . . the life of the injured liglit­house keeper." The latter, completelyrecovered, is back at work (In the island.

Discovery WinsEfficiency Trophy

HMCS Discovery,' Vancouver, has wonthe efficiency trophy over 21 other navaldivisions across Canada.Rea~-Admiral K. F. Adams, Flag Of;.

ficer Naval Divisions; announcing theaward, said:

"The analysis of the annual reportsof inspecting officers reveals a generafimprovement in the administration and

The eye that leel below the lea, the underwatertelevilion camera carried in HMCS Labrador IIprepared for lowering Into Halifax harbour during telll carried out there before the Arctic patrolvenel lolled for the north. Lt.-Cdr. Jack Bathunt, of Ottawa, (right), underwater TV expert, In·structed Labrador crew memben in the ule of the equipment, which will be uled to survey theapproaches to Arctic shorelines. Lt.-Cdr. John Ruse and PO William McPhee attach a lecurity lineto a Itrop before lowering away. (LAB-6B6)

operation of all divisions. An outstand­ing feature has been the consistentloyal support and effort.

"I am loath to accept my responsi­bility of selecting the most efficient di­vision in the realization that differencesof design, location and facilities makethe task an unenviable one.

"Discovery has been adjudged to bethe winner of the efficiency trophy andis deserving of the heartiest congratula­tions for the high standard in evidencein all departments. Closely followingare Donnacona (Montreal), Chippawa(Winnipeg), Carleton (Ottawa), Mala­hat (Victoria) and Star (Hamilton).

"It is my earnest hope that all divi­sions not mentioned by name in thismessage will reckon' that their namewould have been the seventh.

"The annual inspection has revealedthat an excellent job is being done andthat the value of a strong naval re­serve is uppermost in everyone's mind,"he .concluded.

Commanding officer of the Vancouvernaval division is Commander J. H.Stevenson.

HMCS Prevost, London, won thetrophy last year on its first appearance.It is a silver-plated model of the St.Laurent class destroyer escort beingbuilt in Canada.

Labrador FittedWith Underwater TV

When the Labrador sailed June ·1from Halifax for her 1955 northernoperations, she carried the first un!ier­water television equipment to be usedby any ship of the Royal CanadianNavy.

The equipment, property of the De­fence Research Board, will be used forsurveys of underwater beach approachesand for studies of the behaviour ofdivers in cold water conditions in thefar North.

The equipment is portable, which willenable it to be operated from one ofthe Labrador's bOll.ts for inshore orshallow water work. It consists of a-­control unit, including a monitoringscreen, to which the camera is attachedby cable. The camera is enclosed ina cylindrical case, measuring 23 inchesin length and just under 11 inches indiameter. The latter unit has a slightpositive buoyancy, making it easier tohandle under water.

The actual televising is controlledfrom the ship or boat, which is in audiocommunication with the diver. Thelatter has only to point the camera asdirected from the control unit. Theequipment operates on the closed cir­cuit television principle.

This will be the first time that RoyalCanadian Navy divers have operatedunderwater TV equipment, although Lt.­Cdr. J. H. Bathurst, on the staff of theDirector of Torpedo Anti-Submarineand Mine Warfare at Naval Headquar­ters, Ottawa, has had considerable ex­perience in this field during his servicewith the Royal Navy. Lt.-Cdr. Bathurstinstructed the Labrador's diving teamin the operation of the camera beforethe ship sailed.

HeN AssociateAwarded OBE

Cdr. (E) Hugh Wilson Findlay, DSC,RN, Technical Officer on the RoyalNaval Liaison Staff (Canada) and As­sistant Naval Advisor to the UnitedKingdom High Commissioner in Canada,has been appointed to the Order of theBritish Empire (Military Division) inthe Queen's Birthday Honours list, June

9. The award was in recognition ofhis liaison work with the RCN.

The Scottish-born officer has beenassociated with the Royal CanadianNavy for most of his 30 years of RNservice, and has been in Ottawa since1945. He is married to a Montrealer,the former Constance Mussell.

His RCN associations began in 1930during three years on the America andWest Indies Station in the cruiser Danaeand again in the sloop Scarborough(1935-38). In the war he met manyCanadians while in the destroyer re­pair ship Hecla based on Iceland duringthe Battle of the Atlantic. He waS En­gineer Officer of the 23rd DestroyerFlotilla (later joined by the Algonquinand Sioux) but a wound received inaction put him ashore for good.

He came to Canada then with thewartime British Admiralty TechnicalMission.

Page three

,'10VNT DISCOVERYSNOW VALLEY

MOVNT LISTAR

MAWSON GLACIER.

TRENCH WAS ROOFED wiTH SEAL SKINS.• Z C~"lY~S DOORS'

.~ 1fI; LT, CAMPBElL'S IGLOO~ 15'x9'

MARCH 20'"-5EPT.30'·

MACKAY 6LACIEROCT 29CAPE ROaERTs., -, ~:::::'

. .<'''~·~~~~:~;~~······ .. ·:······_···~ ..·~:~O~·OF·········· ~_ .., DEPOT

PROVISIONS .~......:::::;::. "fRIPP ISLAND

.................1

(NO CREVASSes' FOUND'".

:.~

./ BAD SCREW ICEt.:l BARRED il=HE WAY- FEB 17

AFTER. SLEDGE JOURNEY ,• THE NORTHERN PARTY RETURNf.D....... OCT 10, 10 TERRA NOVA PJAY TO JOIN

"'\ ICE AXES USED THE SHIP' ....~\ /~

eROS'SED SNOW BRIO·GI:'·...... ~ ... MARCH, /SUl\.GEON Lf

" 175 PACES" .... ~'••••~... SEPT 30 .... TEIITCOlLAP•••••••• STAR.TED FOR CAPE, ••-

10 DAYS TAKEN TO EVANS 200 ,MILES ;••••••••••CR.OSS BARRIER 1!i••.•••••••••••••• '"

cur BY BARRANCAS ~

....,..•..--,-._.NO..RI?J;NS.K1QLD ICE BARRIER TONGUE.

DRYGALS'" ICEBARRIER TONGUE

......".~ ."'.......~.............................

Me MURDO SOUND

'tor POINT

HirEISLAND

E EVANS

Memories of art RN Captain

Wintering in the Antarctic

I F YOU HAPPENED to be readingone of the leading English news­

papers lately you would have seen thefollowing item.

NO ORDINARY COpy

"The Dickens House in DoughtyStreet, the headquarte1's of the DickensFellowship, has been spring cleaning tobe ready for the summer visitors whoan'ive in that season at the rate of fortyor fifty a day. It. is open again and isproudly showing a new acquisition, noordinary copy of 'David Copperfield'. Itis wrapped in a tattered, dark brownpaper cover and the pages are heavilythumbed with grease marks. The greasewas seal blubber used in a tin w'ith ropeyarn for a wick. This made a lamp ofsorts by which to read this copy of thenovel. It is remarkable that the bookhas survived its adventures.

"It was ca7-ried with Captain Scott'sexpedition to the Antarctic in 1910-13

and it belonged to Lieut. Campbell wholed the northern party which was lostf01' considerable time. He gave it toa member of the expedition, a NewZealand seaman, when they got home.After passing through many hands itioas given to the Auckland branch ofthe Dickens Fellowship, which has nowgiven it to London. The book and theletter accompanying it have both beenidentified by Lieut. Campbell, now aretired captain in Newfoundland."

What makes this all the more inter­esting to the residents of Corner Brook,is that Captain V. L. A. Campbell. DSO,OBE, RN (Ret'd), lives there.

During the many pleasant visits Ihave had with Captain Campbell thestory of his exploits gradually unfolded.We have, unfortunately, space for onlya brief outline of this grand old sailor'slife.

Before the First World War in ChristChurch, New Zealand, a renowned ship

called the Terra Nova was being fittedfor the Scott expedition to the SouthPole. Here we find Lieut. Campbelloverseeing a job that he knew well.We will return later to this part of thestory.

In 1914 Captain Campbell was fight­ing the Turks; later he was in thecrack Diver Patrol, and during the Rus­sian revolution he was ashore in thenorth of Russia. A few years after thewar he retired to "Black Duck" in New­foundland.

Life at "Black Duck" was restful and·pleasant. The salmon fishing was un­surpassed and a schooner designed andbuilt by the captain kept the old sailorfairly contented. It was at this timethat he made a trip to Norway wherehe met and married a charming ladywho was lady-in-waiting to the Queenof Norway. The captain observed, witha twinkle in his eye, that a destroyercaptain must be able to think quickly.

Page four

Snug in his comfortable living room in Corner Brook, Newfoundland, Captain V. L. A. Campbell,050, OBE, RN (Ret'dl. has memories of naval service in the tropics and in the ice of Antarctica. Heserved the Royal Canadian Navy as Senior Naval Officer, Corner Brook, during the Second WorldWar when that pulp and paper town had its private navy, the Bay of Islands Patrol. (HS·30721)

So when he met this lovely lady heacted as a destroyer captain should.

Then, at the beginning of the SecondWorld War he was called to Trinidadto serve as the Senior Naval Officer­in-Charge. An old enemy, malaria,forced the captain out of active servicein a few months, and he was retiredagain.

In 1942 when submarines in the St.Lawrence threatened Corner Brookshipping, he volunteered for the RCNand was turned down, but he wroteto Ottawa pointing out that he hadserved years in the Arctic and also inthe Antarctic and "chilled beef keepsindefinitely". Ottawa was convincedbecause they made him SOIC of theunique "Bay of Islands Patrol". Heagain retired in 1944.

Of all Captain Campbell's exploitsthe one he will be remembered forlongest will be his survival in what isknown as "Scott's Last Expedition".

Captain Campbell and six men wereon a geographical survey with only sixweeks' provisions. They reckoned with­out the stern elements of the Antarctichowever, and Captain Campbell and hisparty were stranded for six months.

Admiral Sir Edward Evans, who wasalso in Scott's expedition, terms the ex­ploits of Captain Campbell's team ofsix men as some of "the most heroicon record".

We take up the story of Lieut. Camp­bell's party in the accompanying dia­grammatic view. On February 7, 1912,the men had returned from a sled jour­ney up the Mawson glacier, which theyhad been traversing during their geo­logical and geographical work. They

Explorer's ShillTo Be Commissione<l

The ship built for Captain Scott·sfirst expedition to the South Pole in1901, the Royal Research Ship Dis­covery, has made another voyage-thisone up the Thames to become a drillship for the London Division. RoyalNaval Volunteer Reserve.

After years of exploration in theAntarctic, the Discovery returned tothe United Kingdom in 1931 and fiveyears later was presented to the BoyScouts' Association by the Govern­)l1ent of the Falkland Islands. Shewas used as a hostel where morethan 2.000 boys annually spent week­ends.

After the Second World War. it wasfound the ship's upkeep cost hadgrown considerably and she was of­fered to the Admiralty.

Now she is being refitted and willbe commi.ssioned in July as a com­panion drill ship to the other twodrill ships of the RNVR division inLondon, HMS President and HMSCltl'ysantltemum.

were to return at this time to the shore,where they were to be picked up bythe Terra Nova and conveyed to CapeEvans. Owing to the bad ice, whichprevented the ship from approachingthe shore, the little party was com­pelled to winter at a point just northof the Drygalski ice barrier tongue. Theprecise point is not indicated in thereports of Commander Evans, (nowAdmiral Evans) but it was evidentlyclose to the shore, for we are told thatthe shelter was lined with seaweed.

It doubtless became eviderit to Cap­tain Campbell from the state of theice in Terra Nova Bay that the shipwould be unable to reach him. Theleader appears to have promptly real­ized the necessity of constructing some

permanent shelter for the party duringthe winter months which were fast com­ing upbn them. They set to work toconstruct an igloo 15 feet by 9 feet inextent from the side of the snow drift;a passageway communicated with theouter cold. Three canvas doors en­abled the temperature to be raisedabove zero.

On March 19 Surgeon Levick's tentcollapsed dur,ing a blizzarp. FOl'tun­ately the shelter was ready for theoccupation of the whole party, andfrom March 20 to September 30 theyhad to pass the dark winter months inthe igloo shown in the foreground. Thepresence of a few seals on the coastgave them a supply of fresh meat dur~

ing this period.

Page five

On September 30, Lieut. Campbelldecided to start for Cape Evans, whichwas some 200 miles away. He followedthe track indicated in the drawing. Wesee him first crossing the Drygalskibarrier tongue, their progress hinderedby barrancas and huge crevasses. Oneof these was crossed upon an ice bridge175 paces long. Descending from thebarrier tongue onto the frozen sea verybad screw pack ice was encountered,which evidently meant some very hardsledging work.

The party then had to climb up tothe Nordenskiold ice barrier tongue.This fortunately did not present verygreat difficulties, and the party followedthe route indicated to. Tripp Island andthence to Depot Island, where theyfound and recovered Professor David'sgeological specimens which had beenleft by the latter's party when attachedto the Shackleton expedition. Crossingthe ice to Grande Harbour, the partyreached Cape Roberts on October 29. Itwas here that a bamboo was observed

sti~king up from a cliff. In the im­mediate vicinity a welcome depot ofprovisions was found, which rapidlycured the party of scurvy. The routethen taken was by Cape Bernacchi alongthe shore ice to Butter Point.

At this point Lieut. Campbell foundthe note signed by Surgeon Atkinson.The unusual signature so alarmed Lieut.Campbell that he set out at once toreach Cape Evans ·over the ice acrossMcMurdo Sound. The ice, however,proved insufficient to bear the party,which was compelled to return to thestronger shore ice and make a completedetour of the sound on the barrier edgebefore reaching Hut Point, where theyfirst obtained information of the lossof Captain Scott and his party. Theyeventually reached Cape Evans on No­vember 7.

Captain Campbell's journal, publishedin the second volume of "Scott's LastExpedition", (McClelland and Good­child, 1913) factually under-rates theirhardships and the versatility displayed

by him and his men in encounteringand overcoming them. .

And so today, over 40 years afterthose heroic deeds, memories, with theaid of an old photographic album, can

'take him back over the years, and thefierce, incessant howl of the tirelesswind fills the snug apartment for awhile until the voice of his wife, aformer maid-in-waiting to royalty, callshim back for a steaming cup of tea.

-L.C.

Korean ChildrenClad by Cornwallis

The Korean children of St. Josephorphanage in Seoul and in Hwasan­Dong and Chinmokchong. two rehabili­tated villages in the Canadian sectorof Korea, are today wearing clothingcollected by Navy families at eO?'1'/.­

wallis.It was sent to the senior dental offi­

cer of the Canadian forces there. whoarranged the distribution.

A rare photagraph in these days of heavy activity is this' one. of the entire First Canadian Minesweeping Squadron lying abreast at Jetty 5 inHMC Dockyard. Halifax. From the j.tty out they are the Gaspe (senior sh,ip) Ungava. Trinity and Resolute. (HS-3S90S)

Sea-Going (Protocol'Poses Problems for

His Excellency

As a landsman of long sian ding, His Excellency the Governor General has confessed that herequired considerable posting before plunging into naval ceremonial. Since being elevated to vice­regal status he has travelled thousands of miles in RCN warships in the course of his duties. Thispicture was taken last year as he was about to go on board HMCS Micmac 01 Halifax for a .voyageto lunenburg, where he opened the Fishermen's Exhibition. (HS·32819)

His Excellency the Governor General scans theshoreline of one of the world's most beautifulwaterways, the island·studded stretch betweenVancouver and Victoria, from the bridge ofHMCS Cayuga. He is accompanied by Rear­Admiral J. C. Hibbard. (E.22881)

cannot tell you how much I enjoyedmy "sea-time".

This coming summer I am again look­ing forward to travelling in two of yourships-once on a visit to places on thelower St. Lawrence and to the MagdalenIslands and again Ul; the Newfoundlandcoast to visit St. Anthony. and some of-the "out ports".

I have always received, not only fromthose on whose authority these facili­ties are made available but also fromthose in the ships themselves thegreatest courtesy, helpfulness and con­sideration. I wish to thank everyoneconcerned most sincerely for this ser­vice which has been so cheerfully andefficiently rendered.

It was my privilege to see somethingof the Royal Canadian Navy and itspersonnel when I was living in Englandduring the war. I w0l.11d have seenmore of our ships if plans to go to seaon several occasions had not miscarried.Fog kept us in harbour at one time;a little engine trouble occurred in an­other. The Navy was too polite to sug­gest that the High Commissioner wasa "hoodoo". However, the Service waspossibly reassured when I had an agree­able and uneventful voyage to Belfastand back in one of our destroyers afew months before the end o.f the war.

I have learned something about ourNavy-perhaps I might say a good deal

in the last few years, but neverenough. There is somethjl1g inscrutableabout naval traditions; something verycomplicated about naval rules and some­thing mysterious about naval language,

his days as Canadian High Commis­sioner in London and augmented sincethen by his travels on board Canadianwarships to outlying coastal regions ofCanada in the course of his wide-rang­ing duties as Governor General. Hiscontacts with the Navy afloat andashore (and some of the perplexitiesarising from naval tradition and "pro­tocol") were amusingly described inhis address, the text of which follows:

I AM DELIGHTED to be "on board"with the Navy again and I thank

you most sincerely for your welcomeand your kind hospitality this evening.I am happy to be here for several rea­sons but especially because it gives mean oc'casion to express personally mywarmest thanks for the very great co­operation' and hospitality I have re­ceived from the Royal Canadian Navyin the last three years. Since takingoffice, I have travelled some 3,000 milesin ships of our Navy-HMCS Sioux,Micmac, Quebec and Cayuga, and I

The Governor-Generaland the Navy

A PERSONAL tribute to the regularand reserve forces of the Royal

Canadian Navy was paid by His Ex­cellency the Governor General, the Rt.Hon. Vincent Massey, when he ad­dressed tile semi-annual mess dinnerof naval officers serving Ottawa anddistrict at HMCS Carleton on May 6.

It was His Excellency's first oppor­tunity of meeting Bytown and Carletonofficers in naval surroundings and heremained for more than an hour afterthe dinner, visiting and chatting withhis hosts.

President of the mess dinner wasCapt. F. W. T. Lucas and the reply toHis Excellency's address was made byVice-Admiral E. R. Mainguy, Chief ofthe Naval Staff, who thanked the Gov­ernor General for his gracious courtesyin attending the dinner and recalled asimilar visit by his predecessor, Vis­count Alexander of Tunis.

His Excellency has a wide familiaritywith ships, officers and men of theRoyal Canadian Navy, dating back to

Page seven

It's hard to believe, but it doesn't toke much more wind to pump a tuba than it does to toot atrumpet. This bit of pneumatic engineering lore may well have been the subject under discussionwhen His Excellency chatted with PO Herbert Botten at Naden. On the other hand, they may havemutually recalled their first meeting in wartime london in 1944 when the RCN band was on tour.His Excellency was then Canadian High Commissioner in london. (E·20699)

all of which keeps the landsman defi­ni~elY and permanently, and no doubtrightly, in his place! For example, Iconfess to you here, on this. intimateoccasion, that I am never perfectly surewhere to find the quarter-deck of anayal, shore establishment! There isalWays a risk hf the appropriate formal­iti~s taking place on the wrong spot.

two or three years ago Iwent aboardone 'of your ships (which shall be name­less) anchored in a harbour (not to bedi~closed), under conditions of consid­erable formality (an Admiral was in­volved on this occasion). I humblyaSIl:ed for instructions in advance, anda j::harming and able Lieutenant wastold off to g\ve me the necessary in­formation witp. regard to bugles, bos'n'spipes and saluting guns and what todo' when I heard them. His mannerwas a happy combination of that ofan indulgent nanny with a forgetfulchild and that of a disappointed Regi­mental Sergeant Major towards a well­meaning Subaltern! The result of itali was four pages of foolscap giving aschedule of what was to happen. I wasrelieved to find that opposite a goodmany oi these items were the words

, (in relation to myself) "no re-actionnecessary". I only hope that where are-action was required, it was the rightone that took place.

It is a time-honoured tradition thatan Officers' Mess is not the place forlong speeches. I am sure that you ofthe, "silent service" adhere to this fineold custom and I shall honour it too.As a matter of fact, when I asked mynaval ADC what he thought the Navywould like me to talk about this evening,he said "about three minutes, sir".

There is one naval custom or tradi­tion for which I have a special admira­tion, that is the tradition of silence atthe beginning of the day. I am toldit is an unwritten rule in the Navy thatjunior officers,' on meeting senior offi­cers the first thing in the morning, willsalute only, and that it is left to the dis­cretion of the senior officer whetherpleasantries such as "good morning"are to follow. I am reminded of thestory of the junior watchkeeper on thebridge at the end of the early: watchwho, . as the Captain arrived on thescene, gave a rather over-cheerful"Good morning, Sir". The Captaingrowled in reply, "I'll make those de­cisions around here."

This is the "Bytown" Mess Dinnerand I was interested in finding out alittle about the background of this es­tablishment. I understand that HMCSBytown has only been.in existence fora relatively short time~ I am told thatbefore 1941, officers and men at Naval

Page eight

Service Headquarters were carried onthe books of HMCS Stadacona in Hali­fax, a source of satisfaction to NovaScotians. During the war as numbersincreased, this system became unwieldyand HMCS Bytown was commissioned.I was interested to note that at thistime, the Navy followed the old tra­dition of actually commissioning a shipafloat to bear the name, so a motor­boat "The Oracle" became HMcS By­town. The records show that the vessel"Bytown" was turned over to HMCSCarleton as a training craft. This ges­ture of entrusting the ship in whichthe Chief of Naval Staff was borne,to the reserve division, shows, I wouldsay, the great confidence that the RCNhas in the Reserve. There is no recordof her being damaged, run aground orsunk in Dow's Lake and in 1943, ap­parently in fine condition, she left Ot­tawa for further service in the .. St.Lawrence.

Relations between HMCS Bytown andHMCS Carleton have, I believe, alwaysbeen very close. As a matter of fact,I understand that for a period duringthe war the two operated together underthe name 'of Bytown. I feel that therecouldn't be a finer example of whatthe relationship between the permanentforce and its Reserve should be.

In closing I would like to pay a verysincere tribute to those of the permanentforce who give such fine and talentedservice to this country. Service life im­poses certain disciplines, calls for sacri-

flces and produces uncertainties whichare not usually found in civilian occu­pations. Your vigilance and your un­flagging sense of duty creates a climatein which our economic, social and cul­tural life can flourish.

I wonder if all our citizens fullyrealize and appreciate the devoted ef­fort of our armed forces---,not only ofthe permanent forces, but of the reserveunits too. I wonder if there is a fullappreciation of the contributions of themembers of the reserve who give soliberally of their evenings to navaltraining and a period in the summer

. for the same purpose-perhaps forego­ing their holidays by doing so. I wel­come this occasion to say "thank you"to the perm~nent and reserve forces,both of which are represented here to­night, which I am sure reflects the viewsof all thinking, Canadians.

I would again thank my hosts ofHMCS Bytown for inviting me to bewith you this evening. Bytown's his­tory is short but the importance of -the

.work of thoSe who serve in her is im­measurable. You steer the fleet as yourbadge depicts. The wisdom of· yourdecisions determines the happy' and ef­fective functioning of a Service of whichI am sure all Canadians are very proud.To the helmsmen and all those of youwho help steer the fleet, may I offermy sincere thanks for your kindnesstonight and may success continue toattend your efforts.

OFFICERS AND MEN

Air Engineer'Fins Award

Commissioned Engineer (A/E)Thomas Frederick Stephens, RCN, 36,of Toronto and Dartmouth, N.S., hasbeen awarded $25 by the Departmentof National Defence for designing atime-saving device to raise Sea Furyaircraft from under-carriage rapair.

With the award Mr. Stephens re­ceived a letter of commendation fromC. M. Drury, Deputy Minister of Na­tional Defence.

His jacking pads, which save an es­timated 13·3 manhours a week, arein use by all RCN air squadrons op­erating the Sea Fury, the Navy's frontline fighter.

Mr. Stephens, now on staff at theNaval Aircraft Maintenance School,Dartmouth, N.S., developed the jackingpads while serving in the aircraft car­rier Magnificent during 1952-53.

The aircraft are jacked to changemain wheel tires and adjust brakes.Jacking at the normal location is im­possible when the fighters are fitted

with overload tanks. The pads Mr.Stephens has designed save about twomanhours previously required to de­fuel, remove, refit, refuel and test thetanks on each side of the Fury.

Their importance is more significantif a tire bursts when the plane landsheavily on the deck and it becomesessential to make a fast change to clearthe flight deck for further landings.

Five Wrens JoinRegular Force

Five reserve Wren officers have em­barked on short service appointmentsin the Navy as a step in the integrationof Wrens in the regular force.

They are the first Wren personnel toenter the RCN. Previously they hadbeen on full-time duty as reserves, fourat Naval Headquarters in Ottawa andthe fifth at naval reserve headquartersin Hamilton, Onto

The officers taking up three-year ap­pointments in the Navy are:

Lieut. (W) Margaret Mac;kie,MBE,of Victoria; Lieut. (W) Eileen Eliza-

beth MacDermott, London, Ont., andOttawa; Lieut. (W) Marjorie WilliaminaFahrig, Brandon, Man.; Sub-Lt. (W)Elizabeth Anne Hargreaves, Ottawa, andLieut. (W) Jean Crawford-Smith, To­ronto.

All but Lieut. CraWford-Smith areserving at Headquarters in Ottawa.

The ceiling for regula'r force Wrensis 35 officers and 365 Wrens. It mqrksthe first time in the history of Com­monwealth navies that Wrens form apermanent component of the, Nav;v.

New Posts forTwo Captains

Captain Morson Alexander Medlandwill become Naval Member of theDirecting Staff at the National DefenceCollege, Kingston, at the end of June.

His current appointment as command­ing officer of HMCS Niagara,RCNfleet establishment in Washington; D.C.,Naval Member of the Canadian ,{JointStaff, and Canadian Naval Attache willbe assumed on June 20 by CaptainAngus George Boulton. '

.~------~- ----- -'-.--@ "<»,, '~' ~ .,.rk>-----/l!l.-"'r--::: . - ----- ""::" _. --~ " .1-~

Members of the 13th Supply Officers Technical Course, have completed six mo"ths training at HMC Supply School at Esquimalt. During the coursethey received instruction in all phases of supply work including stores ond pay procedures, service management and instructional technique. Theyare now qualified naval supply officers. Some 100 officers haye completed this course since the end of the war. Front row (left to right): Sub-Lt. (S)J. H. Dougan, Sub-Lt. (S) Bruce W. Robertson, Sub-Lt. (S) Peter A. Gardner, Lieut. (S) Frank A. Bentley, Lieut. (S) Roland E. Edwards, Lieut. (S) ThomasA. Sigurdson and Sub-Lt. (S) Kenneth R. Campbell. Back row: Sub-Lt. (S) Gerald A. Beament, Sub-Lt. (S) David G. Pengelly, Lieut. (S) Donald M.Street, Sub-Lt. (S) Victor H. Fast, Lieut. (S) Russell F. Passmore, Sub-Lt. (S) Rawley L. Hunter, Sub-Lt. (S) Laurent J. Thibault and Sub-Lt. (S) Bruce Cor­mack. (E-31040)

Page nine

Lt.-Cdr. E. A. Fallen~ a native of Fort William, Ontario, Is shown being presented with a Sikorsky"Winged S" rescue certificate and rescue pin by J. W. R. Drummond, vice-president of Canadian Pratt& Whitney Aircraft Company, on behalf of Sikorsky Aircraft, an associate company of the Canadianfirm. The award was for his rescu·e of a crew member of an American Grumman Guardian after a crashin the Atlantic off the Virginia coast last August. Lt.-Cdr. Fallen is serving at present i'n HMCS Lab·rador with detachment No.2 of HU 21.

Captain Boulton has been executiveofficer of Niagara, Chief Staff Officerto the Naval Member and A.ssistantNaval Attacl).e since September, 1954.

Captain Medland, who· holds the act­ing rank of commodore, has been theNaval Member in Washington sinceSeptember, 1952.

RCN RecruiterDue to R f3tire

CPO, James Edwin Evans, RCN, re­cruiter for Nova Scotia for five and ahalf years, retires in July. The ,Hali­gonian joined the Navy· in 1929 andserved in the Festubert, Champlain, St.Laurent and Restigouche and in HMbattleshipsWarspite and Iron Duke anddestroyers Arrow and Sk'a.te.

He was serving in the Saguena,y whenthe Second World War started and thenin the troopship Monarch of Be7'?nuda.His career was almost terminated by a"Chase Me Charlie" controlled bombwhich hit the Athabaskan d4ring aBay of Biscay patrol. He weathered theattack to win a DSM for his part in thelater sinking of a German destroyer.Four days after this encounter, whenhis ship was sunk, he was picke<;1 up bythe Germans and interned for a year,until his liberation by the British Sec­ond Armoured Division.

CPO Evans returned to Canada in1945, served initially in Peregrine, war­time establishment in Halifax, and thenin the Nootka. He came to HMCSScotian as RCN recruiter in 1949 byway of Stadacona. A widower, he liveswith his daughter, Mrs. John Under­wood, in Halifax.

A.dmiralty OfficialVisits Ct(natJa

Sir ~~unish D,' MacLaren, KBE, CB,DFC '~nd Bar,' Director of ElectricalEllgineering,i\dmiralty, visited Canadain Ma'y 'for,<ilscussions with the Royal 'Canadian Navy and representatives ofCanadian shipyards and industry onmutual .problemll in connection withnaval electrical ~ngin.eering. ,

Sir Barnish, accompanied by A. McL.Momiey;' CEE, deputy director of elec­trical engineering,and W. E. C. Lam­pert, assistant director, earlier visitednaval establishments, shipyardS and in­dustrial plants in the United States.

The party arri.vedin Hamilton May17 frqmBuffalo, N.Y;; and visited theCanadian Westinghouse Corporation andthe ~ueenstown·Power Station beforeflying 'on to Ott<J.wa on May 18. Dis­cussi<)ns were held at Naval Headquar­ters during the remainder of the weekwith Rear-Admiral (E) J. G. Knowl­ton, Chief of Naval Technical Services,

Page ten

NAVY

and Commodore (L) W. H. G. Roger,Electrical Engineer in Chief.

Sir Hamish left Montreal by air forHAlifax May 23 for a two-day tour ofEast Coast naval establishments, duringwhich time he officially opened the RCN'snew electrical and electronic workshopsat Shearwater. He returned to Mont­real May 25 and visited shipyards inMontreal and Quebec City before sail­ing for the United Kingdom June 1.During the Canadian portion of his tourhe was accompanied by Cdr. (E) H.W. Findlay, RN, Technical liaison offi­cer on the staff of the Senior NavalLiaiso1'). Officer (U.K.), Ottawa.

:War 'M-other.. toSailors Found

Wartime sailors will remember the. Edmonton mother with the heart as

big as the' prairies who used to .meetall 'the trains with a cheerful gr,eetingfor sailors, a hot coffee, maybe a bitof Change or dinner at home if needed.

Ex-s,ailor Mac Jenson, one of thethousand-plus who were greeted by hernever forgot her, or: the fact that shewould meet trains even in 40 belowweather. .

A travelling salesman now, he dis­covered her on his territory in the tinyvillage of Roberts Creek. on the Sechelt

peninsula in British Columbia. Hisdiscovery came in time for Mother'sDay and her 38th wedding anniversary.

He got the familiar "Hello, sweet­heart" he hadn't heard since 1943 and,moreover, she apparently knew himafter a dozen years. Mrs. Alice Mor­timer, 59, lives with her retired hus­band i1'). the tiny hamlet.

Jenson lost no time on reporting hisdiscovery to the "Vancouver Sun";which sent staff reporter Don Stainsbyup to see "Mom".

It appears that she did her bit forevery serviceman during the war, butthe Navy was her special pet becauseher two sons were both seamen. Sheworked in an Edmonton canteen al­though train greeting was her main job.

She lays a wreath every April 9 inmemory of Vimy and one on November11 for all war dead.' Naval authoritiesin Halifax asked her to place a specialwreath once during the, war.

."Chariot" StoryBecomes Movie·

The story of the human' torpedoesand midget submarines of the SecondWorld War, as told in the book "AboveUs the Waves", by C. E. T. Warrenand James Benson, has been success­fully translated. into an English movie.

T. R. Durley, of Montreal, (extreme right), WClS elected national president of the Naval Officers'Associations of Canada, at the 10th annual meeting of the Dominion council in Regina in early June.Also shown, left to right, are Harry McClymont, of Ollawa, secretary-treasurer, John McAvity, ofToronto, past president, and Rear-Admiral Walter Hose, RCN (Ret'd), of Windsor, honorary presi.dent. (Photo by West's Studio, Regina.)

The human torpedoes were known inthe Royal Navy under the code nameof "chariots" and the first officer to takeone on ·a trial run was Lieut. C. E,(Chuck) Bonnell, DSC, RCNVR, of To­ronto, who had Stoker PO "Jim" War­ren, RNVR, as his crew. Lieut. Bonnellwas lost on active service, but PO War­ren went through the war to becomeLieut. Warren and one of the. authorsof the book, which is published in Can­ada by Clarice, Irwin and CompanyLimited, Toronto.

The film, which stars John Milles,was released in England at the timeof the newspaper strilce, but columnistspassed along their findings to the Brit­ish publishers and they were enthusias­tic. The BBC review called it "one of thefinest war films of its Icind ever made".

"Above Us the Waves" was reviewedin the November 1953 "Crowsnest".

Admiral Bid1,vellVisits England

Rear-Admiral R. E. S. Bidwell, RCN,Flag Officer Atlantic Coast, and Com­mander Canadian Atlantic, made amonth-long tour of duty in the UnitedKingdom recently.

While in the United Kingdom, Rear­Admiral Bidwell conferred with NorthAtlantic Treaty Organization chiefsand with Admiralty officials, includingtallcs with the Commander-in-Chief,Eastern Atlantic. He also conferredwith RCN and Royal Navy officials inEngland, as well as addressing theRoyal Navy Staff Course at the RNstaff College in Greenwich, England.

Rear-Admiral Bidwell was accom­panied by Mrs. Bidwell, who visitedrelatives in the British Isles. Theyreturned to Canada early in May.

Officer ChosenFor RAF Course

Lt.-Cdr. James Brant Fotheringhamwill begin a six-month course at theRoyal Air Force Flying College, Manby,in England, on July 1, the first time that aCanadian naval aviator has been selectedfor the course, which involves staffstudies and flying in a variety of aircraft.

He will be succeeded as officer in im­mediate charge of naval personnel on de­tached duty at the Canadian Services Col­lege, Royal Military College, Kingston, byLt.-Cdr. R. W. J. Cocks, who has beenin command of VS 881 at Shearwater.

Constructor OfficerLeaves 'Maggie'

After more than three years as theMagnificent's constructor officer, Lieut.Ronald Pitcher, of Vancouver, has leftthe ship to join the staff of the PrincipalNaval Overseer at Yarrows, Limited, of

Esquimalt. In his new duties he willbe responsible for completing and fit­ting out the new St. Laurent class des­troyer escorts under construction on theWest Coast.

Although he relinquishes the title ofMaggie's "oldest inhabitant" aftel' guid­ing the carrier through five annualand special refits in addition to a greatnumber of day-to-day maintenance andconstruction projects, Lieut. Pitcherwill be no newcomer to the shipbuildingfield, having served his apprenticeship asa shipwright in Prince Rupert shipyards.

Lieut. Pitcher claims this will be hisfirst West Coast appointment in 15years-"sufficient time", it has been re­marked, "to show these Nova Scotianboatbuilders a thing or two."

Top Marks f~"Gunlayer Won

Highest honours in his class weretaken by Ldg. Sea. George A. Newman,of Vancouver, in the passing out cere­monies of the 11th course of LayerRates after eight weeks at the Gun­nery School, Stadacona.

Ldg. Sea. Newman joined the RCNat HMCS Discovery, Vancouver, inApril, 1945 after wartime service (1943­1944) in the Merchant Navy.

Engineer OfficerRetires at Naden

The MET at Naden bade farewell toLieut. (E) Stanley George Hateary, 49,of Winnipeg, who retired this spring

because of ill health. He will settlepermanently in Victoria with his wife,to do some gardening arid woodworking.

He had 29 years, nine months' ~ervice

in the RCNVR and RpN, having en­tered at Winnipeg in :July, 1925, andtransferred as a second class stoker tothe regular force the ne·xt year '.

He served in the following ships andestablishments: Thiepval (two· com­missions), Armentieres, Patrician, Van­couver, (three commissions), HMS Co­tombo, S/ceena, Fras~r, Restigouche,Ottawa and St. Laurent; Naden, HMSPembro/ce, Stadacona, Peregrine, Pro­tector II and HMS Victory.

Among the highlights of his careerwere the St. Laurent's rescue in July,1940, of 857 survivors of the Italianliner A random Star,tarrying Britishpersonnel and Axis prisoners, and, sec­ondly, the honour of standing both thefirst and last seagoing watches in the

·boiler room of the Vancouver-com­)'Ilissioned in 1928 and paid off in 1936.

Naval OfficerU81 President

Lt.-Cdr. W. 'A. Johnston recently waselected president of the United ServicesInstitute of Manitoba.

Cdr. L. B. McIlhagga was named anhonorary vice-president and naval ex­ecutive directors include Lt.-Cdr. John­ston and Lt.-Cdr. Maurice Burchell.

The elections took place at the 45thannual meeting in Winnipeg.

Page eleven

Prelude to 'CoronelSome Footnotes on

Early Days inThe RCN

I N FEBRUARY 1914 the second termof cadets of the original Royal· Naval

College of Canada, of which I had thehonour of being a member, joined HMSBerwick, from which the first term hadrecently been discharged after a year'straining as sea-going cadets. The Ber­wick was one of five ships of the WestIndies Squadron, and was commandedby Captain Lewis Clinton-Baker" RN.The flagship of the squadron was HM'SSuffolk, wearing the flag of Rear­Admiral Sir Christopher G, E. M.Cradock.

When war was declared on August ·4,1914, the West Indies Squadron' becamedispersed on various duties, and whenthe Good Hope arrived on the stationfrom England, Admiral Cradock trans­ferred his flag to her. The Berwickremained in the West Indies searchingfor the two German cruisers Dresdenand Karlsruhe, which· were on the sta­tion when the war started.

During the course of her cruising, theBerwick arrived on August 25 in PortCastries on the island of St. Lucia, tocoal. We found that the Good Hopehad been there the day before. Herpicket-boat had been accidently dam­a.ged and was lying sunk in 12 feet· ofwater alongside the wharf. The Ber­wick divers went down and hooked ;iton. slings, and a locally-owned floatingcrane lifted the boat to the surface, butwas not strong enough to hoist her clearof the water. The crane with its burdenwas towed to the side of the Berwick,where the picket-boat was hoisted onboard by the main derrick and tempor­arily· repaired.

(Fbr thfrbenefit of the ptesent gen­erationwho WQuid never have seen a"picket-boat" li: might explain that all'big' ships had/'~one, and that it was adiago~nallY-buil:e? wooden boat, 56 feet'long,· fitted with a water-tube boilerwhich. burned c~al with forced draught,and reciprocatipg engines; was capableof doing 18 knctts, 'and weighed 18 tons.For actioIl; purp'9ses she could be armedwith,a three-pounder gun and a Maximg\ln and two 14*inch torpedoes in drop­pirrg~gear.)

On' August 26 the Berwick arrived inPort of Spain, Trinidad,and found herethe Good Hope and Bristol, the latter asma.l~er type cruiser of. the West. Indies

Page twelve

Squadron. Soon after anchoring wecadets were thrilled to see a steam pin­nace (a smaller .and slower edition ofthe picket...boat also carried by all "Big"ships) come alongside, steered by Mid­shipman Silver, HCN, wearing 'his dirk..I don't know whether "snotties" havedirks now, but in those days it was thebadge 'of duty worn by midshipmenwhen in charge of boats, and also attimes when officers wore swords. We

The November, 1954, issue of "TheCrowsnest" published, an article mark­ing the fortieth anniversary of theBattleo! Coronel in which four RCNmidshipmen died-the ·first battle cas­ualties of the young naval service. The'uwere Midshipmen William ArchibaldPalmer, John Victor Whiteman Hathe­way, Arthur Wiltshire Silver, and Mal­colm Cann.

The fortunes of war could easily haveextended this list of Canadian casualtiesat Coronel on Novernber 1, 1914, it ispointed out by Cdr. H. W. S. Soulsby,RCN (Ret'd), of Victoria, who hasgle·aned some interesting sidelights fromhis diary of the period.

Cdr. SouIsby is perhaps best known toreaders of this magazine as an artist­the creator of the. "Crossing the Line"and cruise certificates which have ap­peared in these pages from time to time.There is a disclosure here, too, whichmay surprise those who are acquaintedwith his drawings of. King Neptune andhis train, the comely, mermaids andother denizens of the deep. Cdr.SouIshy has never crossed the equator.

.Here Cdr. Soulsby tells of. the dayspreceding the departure of the WestIndies Squadron .for its disastrous en...counter with the German· divisionunder Admiral Von Spee.

in the Berwick were only cadets; notyet having been rated midshipmen, and ­were yearning for the day when we·could ship "patches" and wear a dirk.Midshipman 'Silver .had been sent totake the darnagedpicket-boat back tothe .. Good Hope.

Next day the Good Hope led the Ber­Wick· and the Bristol to ·sea. .Wh~n clearof the land, just as it was getting dusk,in the last dog watch, the Good Hopestopped and ha4 a funeral for a stokerwho had died on board. That was the

last we saw of that ill-fated ship, for wespread out 40 miles apatt and cruisedalong the north coast of South Americain our sweeping search for the enemy.

On September 2, within two degreesof the Equator, Admiral Cradockordered the Berwick to return to theWest Indies, and he proceeded southwith the Bristol; later he was joined by ­the Monmouth from England.

The Monmouth was"a sister ship ofthe Berwick, similar in size and arma­ment, having'14 six-inch guns, two pairof which were, in turrets and the restin casemates on the upper and maindecks. However, whereas the Ber-

.wick was manned by a complete fully­trained pre-war "permanent force"ship's company and officers, and hadbeen in commission over two years, theMonrnouth had just come out of ReserveFleet-which meant that she had beenlaid up for months, perhaps years, with­out benefit of modern 'moth-balls'­and was manned by a nucleus of RNoffl.cers and men, the majority of ·theship's company and officers being in­adequately trained reserves. AdmiralCradock's flagship, though larger wasin a similar condition. He thus had aforce so markedly inferior to the highlytrained and most efficient Germansquadron that the result of an engage....ment, if they met, was a foregone con­clusion to anyone int.imately ·connectedwith the details-as later was so tragic­ally proven.

The BeTwick was sent back to theWest Indies because our captain was aveteran in that' part of the world andhis prestige was high· with the peopleof the islands. However, Captain Clin­ton-Baker was soon c'alled to take com­mand of a battleship in the Grand Fleet,and took with him his navigator, Lt....Cdr. J. H. D. Cunningham, who laterbecame Admiral of· the Fleet and FirstSea Lord in the Se~ond World War.'

Had Admiral Cradock. not orderedtl,1e Berwick back to the West Indies,the chances are great that I would nothave written this, and that several well­known retired Canadian Naval Officerswould not now'· be enjoying their pen­sions. Incidentally I have never beenfurther south than we were on that dayin September 1914.-H.W.S.S.

The Quebec at Freetown, Sierra Leone, Africa. (QB-2000)

The Quebec's Winter Cruise

SAILING AROUND AFRICAT HE MOST TRAVELLED ship of

. the Royal Canadian Navy, thetraining cruiser Quebec (Captain E. W.Finch-Noyes) sailed at 1000 on Janu­ary 14, 1955, bound for Dakar, WestAfrica, on the first leg of a good­will cruise around Africa - the firstsuch journey ever undertaken by aCanadian warship.

After only one day at sea, she metwith gales which became progressivelymore severe and she eventually facedwinds up to 92 miles per hour. Thissevere storm covered an area nearly2,300 miles across. At times wavesand spray covered most of the upperdeck of the ship and depth charges,secured in their rails at the stern ofthe ship, were somehow washed awayand disappeared into the sea. The portwhaler was reduced to matchwood byrepeated heavy waves. The starboardwhaler, while not so extensively dam­aged, was merely broken into severallarge pieces of woodwork. The sportslocker was flooded and much of thegear within damaged.

During this battle with the elements,the engineroom personnel had majordifficulties with the fresh water evap-

orators which, on a turbine-drivenship, are essential.

To crown it all, the medical person­nel had to cope with an emergencyoperation (appendectomy, complicatedwith peritonitis) on Ord. Sea. JeanBoulay of Montreal. The operationtook place successfully in heavy wea­ther on January 19, at 1900.

These misfortunes compelled the cap­tain to turn about and make for Ber­muda, the nearest naval dockyard,but, after three days rest and repairsthe Quebec sailed from Bermuda, boundfor Freetown (Sierra Leone, West Af­rica), the proposed visit to Dakar hav­ing been abandoned in order to makeup time.

The crossing of the Atlantic wastolerable even though winds were stillpresent for most of the way. In Free­town for refuelling, the Quebec wentthrough an extensive cleaning and re­painting schedule in order to appearher best in Capetown. During thiscleanup job almost everyone, officersand men, joined in and the ship wasrepainted within 12 hours.

Between Freetown and Cape Town,the sick bay staff was again called upon

to perform their second major opera­tion on board. The patient, CPO E. G.Kimber, was successfully operated onfor appendicitis, and soon made a rapid,and excellent recovery.

In view of the shortage of time, no"Crossing the Line" ceremony was heldon board when the Quebec crossed theequator on February 2, this traditionalceremony being left for the return tripup the East African coast.

T HE QUEBEC sailed into Cape Townon February 7, to see Table Moun­

tain draped in a tablecloth of clouds.The ship's company, after 17 days onboard made off happily ashore on theonly formal visit of the cruise. To saythat they received an open-armed wel­come is only a mild description of whatactually took place.

OffiCial calls were carbed out bythe captain and many officers. Dances,parties and many other forms of en­tertainments were arranged by variousCape Town organizations for the benefitof the ship's company and were over­whelming in their number and the sin­cerity of their goodwill. A concert

Page thi,'teen

party arranged by Cdr. (L) J. C. Gray,and augmented by the ship's band en­tertained the patients at a convalescenthome for crippled children. This en­tertainment; 'got up at very short notice,was a great success and much appre­ciated by patients and staff.

The ship sailed from' the legislativecapital of South Africa on February 11,at 0900, leaving an impression of goodbehaviour arid courtesy which meritedthe following message from the Can­adian High Commissioner in Cape Town.

"My staff and I thank you for yourco-operation and hospitality. Pleaseconvey to the ship's company my ap­preciation, pride, and congratulations onsuccess of visit and manners in whichthey carried out their individual rolesof ambassadors ,for Canada. We joinwith Capetonians in saying, Quebecwelcome here anytime."

The next port of call, Port Elizabeth,one day away from Cape Town, was

was most regrettable; as she had ami:­iously awaited the arrival of the firstCanadian warship in Durban. '

The captain, as usual, called on cityand military officials. Many organiza­tions, particularly one known as the"Apostleship of the Sea", had prepareddances, trips and visits for the ship'scompany and these were thoroughly en­joyed. Many officers and men wereinvited to spend an afternoon, a day01' perhaps more' in the home of kindlycitizens. Many were taken on a tourof the city, its environs and thesurrounding countryside, 'while manyothers spent enjoyable aftetnoons onthe beaches which, around Durban, arebeautiful.

The "Valley of the Thousand Hills",now home of the once-mighty Zulutribe, was visited by many qf the ship'scompany both as guests of the lecalinhabitants and' in organized grQups. Alarge party of officers also visited Piet­ermaritzburgas guests of the ReserveNaval officers in Durban.

The countryside around ,Pietermaritz­burg and the "Valley of the ThousandHills", with its expanse of green graz­ing land, woods, and its patches ofmagnificent gum trees left an image inthe memory that one without the powerof description cannot record.

Durban itself, its colourful rickshawboys in their costumes of a bygone timeand its modern buildings, gives the im­pression of a mixture of the old andthe new worlds seldom seen or metwith elsewhere.

On February 19, an ice hockey team,25 in all, left to play a match in Jo­hannesburg. The party was met by adelegatiOn headed by H. G. Conrad,chairman of the South African HockeyAssociation. After preliminary prac­tice games, the Quebec team played arepresentative South African all-starteam, on February 22. The Canadianteam did very well, considering thealtitude (6,000 feet), lack of practiceand borrowed .equipment, losing 15 to9. The whole party was most hospit­ably received and entertained and,among other ,;things, some visited agold mine, and a small party of officerscalled on Dr. 'w. Nicol in Pretoria. Be­cause of incide!llce of poliomyelitis inDurban, the ship's concert party did notvisit any hospital in this ,city.

The "Lady in White" saw the Que­bec off, singing "0 Canada" and otherCanadian popular songs on the morningof Fepruary 24.

ON EACH TRIP between ports, nor­, mal training activities such as boat

drill, target practice, ABCD exercisesand so on were carried out.

T HE SHIP crept up the intricatechannel leading to Durban har­

bour for a visit which was to last eightdays. Unfortunately, the "Lady inWhite", Mrs. Perla S. Gibson, who hadnever before missed the arrival of anyman-of-war in Durban, was not pres­ent when the lines were thrown. It

Strolling in Barcelona. (QB·2253)

reached on February 12. This city wasfounded in 1820 by British settlers.Their descendants received the Quebecthat afternoon with an enthusiasmrarely seen by the ship in past visitsto foreign countries. An unusuallylarge crowd was gathered for the ship'sarrival. A reception and a dance, or­ganized by His Worship the Mayor ofPort Elizabeth, was held at city hallfor officers and men. Another children'shospital was visited by the concert party(as, in Cape Town) and again its effortsmet with marked success.

The following day, the ship was opento visitors who were so numerous thatmany never got the opportunity ofvisiting or even boarding the ship atall, an occurrence which was to repeatitself the' next day.

During this visit, most of the ship'scompany took the opportunity of visit­ing the world-famous Snake Park where

, snakes, still with their poison fangs in­tact are handled with seeming impunityby attendants. The Quebec left the mosthospitable city February 16, bound forDurban some 700 miles further northalong the East African coast....' .

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An Arab dhow unfurls her canvas, preparatory to sailing from Mombasa, Kenya. (QB·2112)

Page fifteen

Competitors in a sports tabloid in the Indian Ocean. (QB·215B)

T HE JOURNEY up the Red Sea wasmade under almost perfect wea­

ther conditions and the number oftankers sighted, of all nationalities andtonnage, made one realize the import­ance of oil in the world's economy andof the Suez Canal in world strategy.

Suez Bay was reached at 1600 onMarch 12 and the Quebec dropped an­chor to await formation of the north­bound evening convoy before passingup the canal. The first part of thepassage through the canal unfortunatelywas made during the hours of darknesswith the Quebec leading the convoy;but the second part of the passage wascompleted at 1100 on the following dayand was particularly interesting to thoseof the ship's company who were pass­ing through the canal for the first time.The ship passed Port Said and carried

and the traditional "Crossing the Line"ceremony was observed on Sunday,March 6. Nearly 200 officers and menwent through the ceremony of conver­sion onto shellbacks, some, it is re­ported with regret, against their will.

The trip continued uneventfully untilan uncharted wreck was sighted onthe shores of the Haftin Peninsula atabout 1800 on March 7. This arousedmuch interest and speculation on board.The captain took the Quebec close into investigate and render assistance ifnecessary. After observing the wreckfor some time with searchlights, it wasdecided that she was abandoned, so theQuebec carried on her way once more.

countryside. Quite a few of the ship'scompany went on safari into the in­terior of Kenya. A dance had been or~

ganized for members of the ship's com­pany which enjoyed itself thoroughlyto the music of the ship's band.

The Quebec sailed from Mombasa at1000 on March 4 to complete the lastlong leg of the East African cruise.Daily training routine was carried out

On leaving Durban, the final SouthAfrican port of call, en route for Mom­basa, Kenya, the memory of the hos­pitality of the Union was such that noone of the ship's company was quitesure whether to be glad of the rest orsorry for the departure.

The trip from Durban to Mombasaunder perfect weather conditions tookeight days and the Quebec carried outnormal training during this time. Thispart of the voyage was made fairlyclose in shore within sight of longstretches of sandy beaches,'

On nearing Mombasa, the first Arabdhows were sighted and these craft, un­changed in appearance for centuries,aroused a lot of interest.

Kilindini harbour was reached at1000 .on March 1 and the ship wentalongside for refuelling. The captainagaiq set off on his busy rounds ofoffici~l calls and these were returnedthe I?ame morning. One of the mostcolourful figures seen on the trip tomak~ a can on the ship, was the repre­senta,'tive of the Sultan of Zanzibar, theSheikh Mbarak Ali Hinawy, dressed inhis £ich Arab costume. After refuel­ling, the ship anchored in the stream.

An interesting spot in Mombasa wasthe "Old Barbour" where the Arabdhows dropped anchor. These dhowsmake the trip to Mombasa from theshores of the Persian Gulf and the RedSea, trading in products of their lands.

Further entertainment in Mombasaconsisted of tours in the surrounding

An ancient harbour light stands at the narrow entrance of· a street in Mombasd. (QB:2121)

:Page sixteen

on directly to Alexandria for an unoffi­cial visit.

The usual calls were made by thecaptain who later received Egyptian of­ficials on board. A dance was held forthe ship's company but the pastime en­joyed most by the crew was tradingwith the many and various merchantsof the ancient city. Many historicalbuildings and sites were visited but or­ganized tours to Cairo and the pyramidswere not possible.

The ship sailed on the morning ofMarch 17 and, because of high winds,had great difficulty in getting away evenwith the help of four tugs. Normal searoutine was resumed once more. Abrief halt was made in Malta wheresaluting ammunition was picked up.Here. also, the standard of HRH the

'II

Duke of Edinburgh, flying op HMRYBritannia was saluted;

The voyage to the French Riviera wascompleted at 0900 on March 21 when theQuebec dropped anchor in the road­stead of Villefranche-sur-Mer, nearNice. Usual courtesies were exchangedand the ship settled down to a six-dayvisit. Numerous trips up and down theRiviera were made and most membersof the ship's company visited MonteCarlo, Monaco.

Many sporting events took place be­tween teams from the Quebec, Ville­franche, and USS Newport News whicharrived on Tuesday, March 22. Aftera most successful visit, the ship sailedon Sunday March 27 at 1400.

On this day, the Quebec had a sadand solemn duty to perform' in the

burial at sea of AB W. J. Warner, RN,late member of the crew of HMS Apollo,who had drowned in the harbour of Vil­lefranche. This ceremony' was carriedout with full naval honours at 1500 thatafternoon.

At 0900 on March 28, the Quebecreached the ancient city of Barcelonawhere the ship tied up for an unofficialvisit of six days. This city (1,500,000population), one of the largest in Spain,offered shopping facilities which com­pared favourably with any other portvisited during the cruise. Calls madeby the captain were returned by offi­cial Spanish delegates.

The Spanish people made the Can­adian extremely welcome even thtmghthe language at first seemed to presenta barrier. Everyone, as usual, got onvery well ashore. Most members of thecrew went at least once to see a bull­fight and these performances causedquite a lot of controversy. A replicaof Columbus' Santa Maria,' lying indock near the Columbus monument,' at­tracted many amateur photographers.

To sum up, Barcelona, a centre fortourists on the Mediterranean coast ofSpain, provided all forms of entertain­ment, all of which were thoroughly en­joyed by the entire ship's company.

W ATCHED BY a considerablecrowd, the Quebec left Bar­

celona at 1400 on April 3 bound forGibralta, the last port of call prior toher return home. Between Barcelonaand Gibraltar, the Quebec performedevolutions in company with HMS Glas­gow and HMS Surprise, Which flew' theflag of Vice-Admiral Sir Guy Grantham.

The Quebec went alongside at Gib­r.altar at 1000 on April 5 for a briefstay, mainly to refuel. Some last min­ute purchasing was done and a feworganized games were played againstlocal Royal Navy teams.

This last port of call of the cruisewas also the theatre for the last Sun­set Ceremony, performed before anaudience which included personnel ofthe Royal Navy and the United States'Navy. As in previous ports, this cere­mony was :~uch admired and the guardand band Were complimented for theirexcellent t!'erformance.

On leaving Gibraltar, the followingmessage was received from the' FlagOfficer (RN) in Gibraltar: "We havemuch enjoyed your visit and look for­ward to your return." The Quebec setoff on the final stage of her 18,000-milevoyage around the African Continent,arriving in Halifax on April 15.-D.A.M.

FIRST-HAND PHILATELY ~

AND TROPICAL FISH

rSiJld-Afrlko') (PoSQl'Sdopro'lOQ.

Handicraft and hobby headquarters on board the Quebec is the ship's canteen which stocks therequired kits and supplies for a wide range of avocations. PO R. F. Bryson and Ldg. Sea. G. A.Bessey are seen in the canteen with a few of the kits kept for sale to the hobbyists. (QB·2168)

SHIPBOARD stamp collectors gotthe break of their seagoing careers

when HMCS Quebec made her wayaround the coasts of the Dark Contin­ent, Egypt, Southern France and Spain.New life was injected into their favour­ite hobby when they had first-handaccess to the colourful beauty of theSouth African animal stamps.

For many members of the ship'scompany every foreign port is a chal­lenge for them to buy a complete set ofnew stamps typical of the countrybeing visited. Ardent stamp collectingfans in the Quebec include InstructorCdr. D. J. Hamilton, Chaplain (P) B,'A. Peglar and Surgeon Lt.-Cdr. D. A.McIver.

Hobbies and hobby shops really comeinto their own in distant spots wheretime is long and recreational opportuni-

ties are sometimes' short. The Quebecis well-equipped for recreational pur­poses and this is one more factor inkeeping morale high while the ship isisolated at sea.

The ship's cinema, which also servesas a chapel and as the home of a much­appreciated 1,500-volume library, pro­vides the sailors with the latest movies.The sports office is' the headquarters ofgames such as scrabble, monoply, tabletennis, table hockey and chess. For themore ambitious and muscle-boundtypes, weight-lifting equipment is al­ways at their disposal.

Letter writing is still the most popu­lar sparetime occupation on the Quebecand helps fill some of the off-duty per­iods.

A ship's newspaper, "Nuts and Bolts",is the result of a combined effort by

ship's company; Each one is asked to,contribute articles and news of generalinterest. The pUblisher, CPO RichardAldhelm-White, is assisted by other in­terested personnel.

Model building is favoured by manyand features model planes, ships, "hot­rods", as well as early vintage automo­biles made of wood or plastic. Recentlyminiature railway cars have made anappearance. The ship's canteen stocksthe necessary equipment, kits and ma­terials required for the various projects.

Wallets, purses, camera cases, slip­pers and belts are but a few of thethings made by leathercraft enthusiasts.It can be a useful hobby and provedespecially so for Lieut. (E) R. W. Gil­bert, who, after failing to find a caseto protect his movie camera, bought theleather and ina matter of hours pro­duced an original case.

What may seem an odd, but not un­usual, hobby in the Quebec is the rais­iug and breeding of tropical fish. Thiscan become a fascinating and educa­tional hobby. The tropical fish are pur­chased at various ports-of-call in petshops or aquariums, and are placed insuspended tanks. Lieut. (L) A. H.Hughes, Captain T. D. Cobb, RCDC, andLieut. (E) J. F. Ferguson, all of Hali­fax, are promoters of this maritimehobby.

Collecting souvenirs from all portsvisited might also be classed as a hobbyand the ship's canteen co-operates bypurchasing a large and varied quantityof souvenirs typical of each countryvisited. These are made available tothe ship's company on a non-projectedbasis-something that is particularlyappreciated by those who did not sharein shore-leave.

Training commitments dictate theamount of spare time available eachday-and sometimes there is none-butwhen time is at their disposal, the ship'scompany of HMCS Quebec knows howto make use of it.-J.B.

Page seventeen

AFLOAT AND ASHORE

PACIFIC COMMAND. Since the middle of May the Second

Reserv~ Training Squadron, comprisingthe diesel Bangor coastal escorts Brock­ville and Digby and the coastal mine-:­sweeper Cordova, has been carrying outan extensive training program for mem­bers of the Reserve.

The first of the eight summer train­ing cruises in the Squadron beganMay 16.

Exercises have been drawn up by theReserve Training Commander at Naden,Cdr. W. H. Willson, and these cover allpossible phases of training. Each cruisefea.tures specialized exercises to fit theneeds of the Reserve complement whichis carried on any particular trip.

The training program has been laiddown by Cdr. Willson and his staff insuch a way that Naval 'Divisions acrossthe country can select the particularcruise which features the training ofwhich they wish to avail themselves.Naval trainIng appointments have comefrom all of the 22 Divisions.

Senior Officer of the Second Reserve'Training Squadron is Cdr. E. S. Cas-

Naval 'Apprentices'T,o Atten(l Camp

In "civvy" life. there's the annualhassle for holidays in. the first twoweeks _of August. In the Navy anycoxswain will tell of a shnilar flurryfor leave at that time.

But the naval apprentices in theCape, Breton get a special break thenfrom their intensive 'training program;a full fortnight under canvas with out..door sports activities, sailing swim­ming and all that. .It's regarded aspart of their training and is intendedto keep them iIi top physical trim fortheir studies.

Ninety of them will go to Boy Scoutproperty at· Lake Mush-Mush in Lunen­burg County, N.S. Two' naval officersand .several senior men will look "aftertheln there.

On top of the aquatic pursuits andsports activities generally. evenings areset aside for corn boils, wiener roastsand clalubakes over a camp fire.

Leave will be given and transpor­tation provided for runs to nearbyBridgewater and Lunenburg towns.Last year the apprentices spent theirtwo weeks' at Camp Major, HarmonIsland. in Lunenburg County's lovelyPrince Inlet.

The trip to camp doesn't deprivethelu of their regular annual' leaveat other periods in' the 'year.

Page eighteen

sels, commanding officer of the Brock­ville.

Training in the squadron includesminesweeping, damage control, engin­eering, torpedo/anti-submarine, sea­manship and tactics.

The cruises serve as ,advance groupsea training, putting into practice th'etheories learned in new entry and basictraining or specialized courses givenin shore establishments.

All divisions, from HMCS GrifJiin(Port Arthur, Ont.) west, may applyto take over one of the ships duringone of the scheduled operations. Thismethod of training is planned to achievea greater esprit de c0r.ps within thedivisions and, where Reserve units fromthe same area can be ac.companied onthe same cruise, a competitive spirit

I between the divisions.

As an example of the interest whichthe program has created, HMCS Non­such (Edmonton) ~pplied for the cruiseto San Francisco, from July 4 to July15. This division supplied the ReserveTraining Establishment, Pacific Com­mand, with a list of 17 officers and 48men, sufficient to man all three shipsin the squadron with their reserve com­plement.

Each ship' is manned by a minimum"steaming" complement from theRCNand everyone on bo~rd undergoes. therigorous .training.

Routine at the Reserve TrainingC'entre 'itself has been streamlined to'allow reserves their full time on thecoast under training, with a n~gligible

loss of .. time completing "in" and "out~'

routines, drawing payor drawing 'andreturning eguipment and clothing. Allthese facilitie.s are readily at hand tomeet the, needs of any large numbers ofreserves arriving or leaving.

FolloWing·. is the schedule for theeight _cruise's, with ,the -area .of cruiseor port of call: p'rince Rupert, B.C., May16·..·to..May 27; Seattle, Wash., May 30 itoJune 10; Ketchekan, Aiaska,June 20 to'July 1; San Fr'ancisco, Calif., July 4 ·toJuly 15; Princ~ Rupert, B.C:,July IBioJuly 29; Quatsino, Vancouver Island,and Bellingham, V/ash., ~ugust 1 toAugust 12,; Nanoose Bay and Vancou­ver, B.C., August 15 to August 26;Hardy Bay and Astoria, Wash., August29 to Sept. 9.

TAS Training CentreTh~ following staff changes have

taken place recently at the TAS Train­ing Centre, Naden:

CPO F. R. Andrews was drafted togeneral duties in Personnel SelectionOfficer's office; CPO D. H: Mann wasdrafted to general duties in RCN Draft­ing Depot; CPO A. W. Tassell wasdraft~d to HMCS Ontario for cadettrainipg duties; AB J. L. P."'Dufresnejoined the staff as storekeeper andLieut. (TAS) D. A. McDonald joinedthe staff from the Long (TAS) Coursein the United Kingdom.

Mechanical Training Establishment

At the Mechanical Training Estab­lishment, Naden, the following P2EM2ssuccessfully completed the ER Candi­dates Course E 1:

Frederich Haldane, Thomas Devenny,Allan McDougall, Melvin Hiles, JamesBarber, Kenneth Morgan, Gordon Goul­die, James Sloan and Angus Holden.Rated P2ER3s, they have been draftedto sea to gain further experience.

Before the present cruise of the On­ta1"io, there were many drafts to the shipcomposed of men completing basic tech­nical, intermediate technical and tradeconversion courses. Among. the in­drafts were men holding· rates fromOSEM to ClEM, most of whom hadeither started or are scheduled to com­mence courses shortly.

This· spring the following' coursescommenced: higher technical E2;' en­gineer officer writers ·E3, post-entryERs 'E2 and basic technical E7 and E8.

Tw.o more of the older· members inservi~,e years. to proceed o,n. penSionleave were CPO Edward Glover andPO Ifarry Friske. PO William Mosseywas Jreleased on medical grounds.

ATLANTIC COM,MAND

Pad/oping Radio Station

Willie, the de-odor.ized skunk,- whotook ··the honour- of.·. being the mostnortherly. of his. species .in Canada'tllilchtoo lightly, is gone. He bit people.

He went north last summer with his. owner PO Ted. Dalgleish, medical as­sistant, to the Royal Canadian' Navy'sweather station at Padloping Island,north of the Arctic Circle.

The Stadacana Hobby Shop marked completion of its first season with presentations to thosewho played a leading part in its arganizations and activities. Here a gift is presented to Cdr.C. A: law, centre, under whose direction the hobby shop opened in October, 1954, and Mrs. law, .left, who conducted classes in oil painting, leatherwork and weaving. At right is lieu!. (SB) ArthurButroid, president, who made the presentation. The habby shop will reopen again in October.(HS-35492)

During the fall, he grew at an alai'm­ing rate on what PO Dalgleish describesas a "carefully balanced diet of tablescraps, dog food and human fingers".

As the Arctic darkness deepened, hishuman companions hopefully expectedthat Willie would hibernate like atrue-blue all-Canadian skunk. But notWillie.

He had acquired a taste for rawsailor and he was determined to sateit-this despite the fact that the sailorshad been carefully protecting him fromthe local huskies which were more thanwilling to sample such a rare, exoticdish as skunk flesh.

By the depth of winter there was nohope that Willie would mend his ways.He was quietly put into a sleep deeperthan the hibernation he had so diligentlyavoided and went to flirt his black andwhite tail among the Northern Lights.

Willie has been succeeded by a seriesof huslde puppies, the latest of whichis a small black and white orphan named"Archie". Once the pups have grownto the point where they are able tofend for themselves, they are claimedby their Eskimo owners, but anothersoon shows up for adoption.

An RCAF transport brought in sup­plies during March. These included anumber of films which were given al­most continuous showing for the nexttwo or three days.

Once the films begin to pall, the pooltable again becomes the centre of rec-

reational activity. In suitable weather,long ski hikes were ta'ken and targetpractice enjoyed.

The anglers have had to be contentwith memories of 'the excellent fishingthey had before freeze-up. Then sal­mon abounded just off shore and cod­fish could be caught at any depth.Taking salmon on spinning tackleproved to be the ultimate in fishingexperience. They average from fourto ten pounds.

Padloping Island had visitors in Aprilwhen an engine of a USAF ski-equippedaircraft failed and the plane was forceddown. The airmen were welcomed intothe naval community and, for a fewdays, as American aircraft shuttled backand forth from Frobisher, 300 miles tothe south, making several trips dailywith replacement parts and technicians,Padloping became a miniature La­Guardia airport.

The topography of Padloping Islandis harshly beautiful-almost surrealis­tic, as if modelled by a supernaturalSalvadore Dali. There are no trees orshrubs to soften the angular outlinesof the rock outcroppings, jumbles ofboulders and icy pinnacles. The groundis clothed in summer only by mo~s,

grass and dwarf flowers, which rarelyattain a height of four inches. It isa barren, desolate, repellent country,which can be strangely fascinating.

PO Dalgleish's letter, from which theforegoing is drawn, concludes:

"I am sorry I cannot include a hair­raising encounter with a polar bear, orsomething of that nature, but I amafraid our life here in Padloping ispretty much routine.

"Even the supposedly savage hus­Ides are a nondescript lot of tail­wagging, good-natured souls who liketo have their backs scratched."

HMCS Penetang

The Penetang spent the latter partof April and the first two weeks ofMay in her normal role of anti-sub­marine training in Bermuda waterswith HMS Astute, a member of theRN's 6th Submarine Squadron based atHalifax.

It is rumoured in the Penetang thatthe ship knows no other steady coursethan 184 degrees to Bermuda and 004degrees back to "Slackers". In fact itis further rumoured that the "Old Girl"can find her own way there and back,as she has been there so often.

All members of the ship's companyhave acquired a sun tan. An inter­divisional ·22 shoot was run off duringthe last trip.

The Penetang is the proud possessorof a charcoal grill and on balmy eve­nings, the ship's company gather aroundthe quarterdeck for an outdoor bar­becue.

HMCS Cornwallis

Cornwallis provided the most out­standing float in the grand street paradeof the Apple Blossom Festival on May28 in Kentville, N.S. An annual affairin Nova Scotia's lovely Annapolis val­ley, it drew a crowd of 20,000.

Cornwallis contributed a princess,Patricia Thibault, in an historic floatmodelled after a Mediterranean galley,in addition t6 two bands and a detach­ment of new entries.

HMCS Magnificent

After a week of good flying weatheren route from Halifax, the Magnificentand her destroyer escorts, the Haidaand Micmac, steamed into the harbourof SanJuan, Puerto Rico, on April 23,for their first visit to that port sinceautumn of 1949.

Highlighted the first day was a cere­mony at the City Hall in which thecommanding officers (Capt. A. H. G.Storrs, Cdr; Victor Browne and Cdr.J. C. Smythe) were presented withilluminated resolutions of welcome toSan Juan and keys to the city. Thesepresentations were made by the verypopular Mayor, Signora Felisa Rinconde Gautier, before an audience of 300

Page nineteen

officers and men of the three ships andan equal number of Puerto Rican" girls.

The brief official ceremony was fol­lowed by an hour of musical numbers,Spanish dances and ballet, and then allwere invited to the mayor's penthousereception rooms for dancing and re­freshments.

U.S. Navy buses, w~th guides fromthe San Juan Tourist Bureau, wereprovided daily throughout the follow­ing week to take numbers of the ships'companies on tour to local points ofinterest; these included El Morro fort­ress at the harbour entrance, built bythe Spaniards in 1539, the beautifulcampus of the University of PuertoRico, and the U.S. Army's Caribbeanheadquarters, Fort Buchanan.

Combining business with pleas\lre wasthe intention of the San Juan visit. TheMagnificent's squadrons operated fromIsla Grande civil and military airfieldduring the visit; at the naval stationadjacent to the airfield facilities of theofficers' club, chief and petty officers'mess, and navy exchange were pro­vided the ships' personnel. Two daysof the visit were spent at sea by theHaida and" Micmac carrying out gun­nery work-ups, while the Magnificentpainted .ship overall.

The task group spent the weekendof April 29 to May 2 on passage toBermuda for a" week of day anti­submarine exercises with the U.S.,submarine Argonaut. The destroyersberthed alongside at Ireland Island thesubsequent weekend while the Magnifi­cent lay at anchor in Grassy Bay.

The excellent flying weather experi­enced in southern waters deterioratedas the ships entered the North Atlanticon passage to Portsmouth for a lO-dayvisit. But the days when flying wascancelied due to poor weather wereused to good advantage in fuelling thedestroyers under conditions of heavyswell and pouring rain.

As part of these evolutions, the Mag­nificent's band entertained the destroyeralongside, and on one occasion the Mic­mac reciprocated (or should one say"retaliated"?) with a piper and drum­mer playing, appropriately, "Ro,ad tothe Isles" and other stirring Scottishairs.

Ordnance Training CentreOne of the best known chiefs of the

ordnance branch, CPO Fred Trottier,began retirement leave this spring af­ter 26 years' naval service. Branchpersonnel at Stadacona presented himwith a brief case for his travels withthe insurance company with which heis now associated.

The Or<;lnance Branch seems to be atthe beginning of a period during which

Page twenty

a considerable number of senior menwill be following Chief Trottier topasture.

Ordnance Reserves, studying fire con­trol each Thursday evening since lastfall, are looking forward to the summercruise period. Instructed by CPO DonAndrews, class members are: Ord.Lieut. J. B. Allen, Ord. Sub-Lt. D. J.Cullen, CPO Creed Hollis, CPO StuartGiffen, PO Bernard Smith and PO OveJessen.

PO Tait Clark relieved CPO Andrewsas their instructor when the latter wentto Montreal to stand by the St. Laurent.

Navigation Direction SchoolThe month of May at StadcLConcL's

Navigation Direction School saw thequalifying of seven RPls, six RP2 and19 RP3s. PO Leslie Painter led hisclass with an average of 72 per cent;Ldg. Sea. John Milne was at the headof the RP2 class with 75·5 per cent,and Ord. Sea. William Ascroft toppedthe PR3s with 71 per cent.

Seven QM1s and 15 QM2s also com­pleted courses at this time.

Fifteen midshipmen and three sea­ward defence Wrens completed theirtraining and passed their training andpassed through the doors of ND School.

Instructive duties never ending, thereare now two RP3, two RP2 and oneRPI class plus one QMl class, one QM2class and three classes of UNTDs deepin their books.

Petty Officers Ernest Wells and BryanMoss are taking their Plot Instructor'scourse in England. CPO Trevor Love­kin transferred to submarines and POLawrence L. Mandy was drafted to theAlgonquin to replace PO Ernest McNutt,who joins the school shortly.

During March the Navigation Direc­tion School qualified five RP2s and 18RP3s. Ldg. Sea. Donald Collins hadthe highest average in RP2 "U" classwith Ldg. Sea. Stanley - Ladenchuckplacing a close second. Ord. Sea.Joseph Downer came first in RP3 "BBI'.class and OS Albert Perks led RP3"BC" class.

At the moment, anRPI Class is go­ing strong, two RP2 and two RP3courses are striving for the raise intrade group:

PO Willis Caton was drafted to HMCSNiobe for his PRI Course.

Quartermaster training has been go­ing at a fast pace during the past coupleof months. The second QuartermasterInstructor course to be held in theschool, ended on March 25, with a classaverage of 80·6 per cent. The top manwas CPO Norman Dawe who made 86·4per cent. Another interesting pointabout this class is that it contained the

Reservist ldg. Sea. Harold Hanson, chosenMan of the Year at HMCS York recently, reoceives the trophy emblematic of the honour fromMrs. G. E. Huffman, president of the TorontoWomen's Ncival Auxiliary. He was chosen forthe award by a vote of members of the ship'scompany. (Photo by Sculthorp-Gilbert A. Milneand Co.)

four original QMs second class, whowere the first junior men to come rightup the ladder in the quartermaster trade.They are Petty Officers Douglas Sykes,Gerald Guile, Leonard Girling andCharles Stevenson.

Two other courses also qualified-aQM2 RCN class containing 12 men.The top man in this class was Ldg.Sea. Burrell Morris who made an over­all average of 80 per cent.

A reserve QM2 course was also held,it consisted of two Wrens and twoPetty Officers First Class. The classfinished with an average of 80 per cent.Top of the class was Ldg. Wren JoyceBowen of HlVICS Star, the Hamiltonnaval division, with an overall averageof 89 per cent.

TAS SchoolCPO John Brown, BEM, has pro­

ceeded, on retirement leave 'after 25years' service.

Chief Brown's departure leaves theDiving Branch feeling a sense of per­sonalloss. His pleasant personality andthE! advice based on his vast divingexperience will be missed. All membersof the TAS Branch wish Chief Brownthe best of luck in any venture he mayundertake.

Lieut. R. C. Brown, Lieut. S. C.Cowen, Lieut. Ralph MacLean joinedthe TAS School on their return toStadacona from England.

10 I

and his crew were lost a few years agoon the same shoal on another life sav­ing mission.

Reminiscing with Mr. Dight, the ChiefMeteorological Officer, Coastal COln­mand Headquarters, r mentioned theChebogue incident and he used his goodoffices to acquire the accompanyingphotostat of the official records of thestorm. As you will see, it is a classicexample of the passage of a storm centreover a given point.

301------+---+---~-

..o.......,...~---t---....-------4--~

~

10~:---_t_--_t_-_lf--_+_--.f_-~--_+___

~

8OrJ---+--t----+---+----+--4--f--....-

20't----+---.....

Hous position by a very gallant crewfrom the Royal Life-Saving Society'sstation at the Mumbles, Glamorgan­shire, at about 2100 that evening. Mr.Gamm'on, the coxswain, was subse­quently awarded the Gold Medal bythe Royal Life-Saving Society for hisheroic efforts and particularly for sav­ing the life of an officer (the writer)who was knocked unconscious and fellbetween the lifeboat and the ship's side.r 'regret ,to add that Cox'n Gammon

eC>t----+---:t-----tI-----f----t---4----l--

Anything over 64 knots (73 mph) is a hurricane according to the Beaufort wind scale and it willbe seen from the above chart that the revolving storm which struck the crippled frigate CheQogue morethan fulfilled this requirement. At the peak of the storm, just after the eye had passed, the windrose suddenly to 95 mph (83 knots). As explained in the accompanying account, the three graphsshow wind velocity, wind direction and barometric pressure, the three together presenting a dramaticpicture of a typical hurriccme.

!to.--r----t--+---t----lI-----t----t-----;"ifTt---t----t--4---f------&---4--....J

9 10" 13 N'eloo·r-'--T-,r-,--.-----r:........---r----:r---T--T----;::-.-~-~~-~~~(

/.'f_· /nfl/., lillI', II' .1""11 ,,"olt'" I' "

1 I T I I I I I "'-I I 1I I r I I I I 1 'I1 I T 'I.~_.l I 1 I ~I k ~ ,-~~I-....

L.L, r I 1 I I """- ~ ..... IV,

'"CI:'f(JIU t1'" '9We

, J"" ""AIIDJ)O~" 10ft 8T......... IDS)"\: ~ -"," ~

1A1'OO1U" mt PDeROG'DCl:1V ,

I\.. I ", 1 , , , I I \~\ \ f \ \ I "-] \ \ \ \ \ \ , \ \ \ \ \ ~\ \ , I 1 \ \ \ \ \ \ 1 't-1 1 1 , \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ 1\. \ \ \ , \ , \ \ \ , \ \ \ \ 1 1 1-, , , \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ '\ \1 \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ 1 1 1 1 ,\ \ \ !-..L._ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ "

, \ 1 \ \ \ \ \ \ \ 1._ \. \ \ \ 1 \.1 , \ ,.-f·... ·' \ \ \ \ \ \ \ '\J \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ "'"f"'"¥' \ \ r \ 1,\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ 1 \ \ \ ,\ 't \ \ -\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ T 1 \ \ \ \ \ \ 1 1 1 \ \'\ r \ \ \ \ ,- \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ T \ \ \ \ , , \ \ , , \ \\ \ \ \ , , , , , , , , , \ \ \ \ , , \ \ \ , \ \ , , \ \\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ , \ \ \ \ \ \ ,- \ \ \ \ -\ \ \

\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ , , \ \ \, -\ \: \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ - \ \: \"\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \: \" 1\ \ , \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \: \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ -~-. \. \ \ \:\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \. \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ v",,\-.-ny \ \" \''\ , \ \ \ \ \ \' \ \ \ \ \ \ \ '\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ ,

\ \ \ \ \' \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ x- \ \' \"'\ "- ~ \. \ '\ \ \ \ " \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ '\ \ '\ '\ \ \ \ '\ \ " \ \ \" \16 Ig 22' I 4- 7 10 IJ /6 IS 2l / .... 1 ID 43 /~ IS 2:1 , .,. 1 1O 13 16 '" 2'~ I + ., i

AUTOBIOGRAPHYof a

HURRICANE

ON OCTOBER 4, 1944, while escort­ing a westbound convoy about 500

luiles north of the Azores, HMCS Che­bogue engaged a U-boat on the surfaceand during the action was damaged aftby an acoustic torpedo.

During the following days (whichso me newspapers subsequently de­scribed as harrowing, but as r recallwere really quite pleasant) the Che­bogue was taken in tow by a numberof ships, in turn, and finally arrivedin Swansea Bay shortly before noonon October 11. The ocean tug, whichhad taken us in tow south of Ireland,anchored and the Chebogue continuedto ride at tow while we Wcdted forpermission to enter a dock.

The wind freshened rapidly andwithin a matter of minutes lhad al­most reached hurricane force. The towsoon parted and both anchors were letgo with all cable paid out. The windproved to be too strong and as 11-0 powerwas available, the Chebogue draggedanchor for about five miles aIi'd endedup in the late afternoon poullding onPort Talbot shoals'.

I \-vill not attempt to describe thefury of the storm that struck us. Itwas a wild afternoon and the ship wascontinually being sluothered in seas.We were finally rescued from our per-

c-r0RPEDOED in ?nid-Atlantic and1 . towed safely to harbour only tobe hU1'led on shoals by a violent storn",the frigate lIMCS Cheboguesurvivedboth disa,sters and, had the war lastedlonge1', would have been rep~ired andsen·t to the Fa?· East fo?' duty.,

Seven 1nen lost their lives i?} the tor­1)edoing. The nu?nber of cQ,sualtiesn~ight well have been added t9 by thehto'?'icane which struck, the woundedshi1) had it not been for the heroisnl,of a crew jron~ the l\1u1nbles stf1,tion ofthe Royal Life-Saving Society. Thecoxswain of the lifeboa't received theSociety's equivalent of the VictoriaCross, the Gold Medal,

The c07111nanding officer of the Che...bogue was Lt.-Cd?". 1\1. F, Oliver, RCNR(now COll11nander, RCN, and Captainof the Iroquois). The W1·it;cr of thebrief account of the stor711 printed hereis Lt,-Cdr. I, A,]\1cPhee, 'l.vho is serv­ing in a NATO appoint1nent on the st:a;O~

of Ad111i?'al Sir Michael Denny, CINC­EASTLANT. He was then an RCNVRlieutenant.

Page twenty-one

Fond Memory of· WartimeFlapjacks Lingers II Years

The upper graph records wind vel­,ocity vertically in miles' per hour againsta time scale across the tep. The deadlycalm in the centre of a hurricanewhich is followed by winds of increasedforce is very clearly indicated.

The eentregraph records the direc­tion of the wind vertically against atime scale across the: top in the waythat the veloeities were recorded in theupper graph. It will'be noted that ifthe duty operator had set the pen di-

I,T IS' POSSIBLE that the ,memory ofwartime food in the Royal Cana­

dian Navy could make a man's mouthwater for 11 years? An affirmative re­ply would probably start a lot of peopleadvising the obvious prevaricator to tellit to the Marines, but wait ...

The man who drooled for 11 years:over"a Navy dish'1vas a Ma'tine.

The culinary joys of life afloat invv~rtime' were not many and no excep­tion 'is being made here for the pro­cession of days when red lead andbacon were served up for breakfast,vvhen boiled cabbage ,turned up dayafter day at dinner until someone wasSlnart enough to suggest that cole slawand some. of that hoarded mayonnaisemigl1t be, a change" There were mo­ment's of delight, it is true, such aswhe'n all 'the bread went mouldy anda red-faced. cook had to admit that ~astoker PO had produced tea biscui~$:':,

(stuff~d with raisins) which were,vv:hiter, lighter' and s\¥eeh~r than anyhe, the cook, h~d been able to achieve.

And ,there was ki" rich, hot, sweet,made by dumping unmeasured quanti-·ties of chocolate and sugar into scarcely-,diluted condensed milk. Scalding hotand served in thick', crockery mugsaround 'which' one could warm one'shands, it' was something of joy andbeauty-but it would never bring. fo1'­turte to a short order, restaurant.

This takes us toa breakfast table 'ina little home in England where the manof. the house, week after week and yeara.fter year, for 11 years said somethinglike this: I .

'''Maw, why can't we have flapjacksand sauc'e "like I was served by theCanadians?"

Around about Shrove Tuesday, itmust have 'been, things reached a crisisand the ex-l\tlarine's wife, Mrs. D. Em­mony; dashed off ~ letter toHMCSNiobe, the Canadia'n naval establish­ment in London. It told how her hus-

Page twenty-two

reetly on nine o'clocl~ whehhechanged 'the paper, the violent wind shift wouldbe recorded directly under the' calm eyeof the storm.

The bottonl graph is, of course, simplythe barograph trace of the same storm.

I have never before seen a recordof a storm presented in this way. Whileadmitting a personal interest in thisparticular' incident, I feel it may alsobe of interest to other members of theService.-I.A.M.

band, as a Royal Marine, se,rved in theCanadian auxilia~y cruiser Prince Davidin 1944, when that warship was takingpart in invasions allover, the place.Every morning for breakfast (withnever a complaint of the monotony ofit) he had been served with pancakesand "sauce". Where could she obtainthe recipe?

Tracing action began with the for­warding of Mrs. Em~ony's request tothe officer ... in - charge, HMC SupplySchool, on the West Coast, with a copyto the Naval Secretary, ottawa. Anaccompanying comment explained thatthe recipe for pancakes contained in theRCN Recipe Manual had not been sent"since undoubtedly Mrs. Emmony de­sires to provide for the needs of anordinary hous,ehold rather than a hun­dred hungry sailors".

By coincidence, the man who was thesenior cook in the Prince David in 1944,CPO William Allan ~tockley, of Esqui­malt, B.C., was senior cookery instructorand divisional 'chief petty officer in thecookery school on the West Coast 'whenher letter arrived. His recipe forgriddle ,cakes was' sent to Mrs. Emmonyalong with that of an alternative saucein the event that Canadian maple syrupis not obtainable in the United King­dom.

C~O Stockley ;hopes his private for­:t:Uula will fulfil the. request of theEnglishwoman and satisfy the appetiteof her ex-Royal Marine husband. Hisbatter will make 16 hot cakes.

The cookery chief. is now on 'retire­ment leave afte~ 20, years in the Navy.lIe entered' the service, in his nativeEsquimalt and cooked for sailors inthe destroyers Skeena,VancotLver and.Fraser and the minesweeper Nootkabefore the Second World War. Du!'ingthe ,war he also served in the PrinceRo'bert, a sister ship to the Prince David,as well as ashore on both coasts.

I

Since then he has han~iled a skilletin HMCS Naden., the training establish­ment where the 'cookery school is lo­cated, and in the Cruiser, Ontario. Hisdischarge is due in August. His recipefollows:

FAMILY-SIZED PANCAKE RECIPE

by CPO W. A. Stockley,

Flour (all purpose) 2 cupsEgg whites 2Egg yolks 2Milk (fresh) 1! cupsShortening or butter 2 tablespoons (luelted)Baking powder 3 teaspoonsSalt 1 teaspoonSugar 1 tablespopn

Makes: 16 four-inch cakes.

Sift flour, then lueasure 2 cups. Combineall dry ingredients, blend well. Separateeggs, add yolks only to milk and beatlightly.

In a separate container beat egg whitesuntil they form peaks, but still maintain aInoist appearance.

N ow add, milk and egg yolk mixture to dryingredients, when thoroughly blended addInelted shortening or butter.~astly fold in,(do not beat) the' egg whites.

MAPLE SYRUP

(Probably the' sauce referred to in Mrs.Elnmony's letter.)

The best syrup to use would be a Canadianluaple syrup. In the event this is unobtain­able in the U.K. the following recipes areenclosed:

I Heat 1 cup of syrup (sinlilar to Lyles) andadd Inaple flavouring to taste, or

Boil together for 2 Ininutes.1 cup "vater2 cups brown sugarAdd a few drops luaple flavouring (Maplex)

to' tasteServe hot.

A point of caution in cooking hot cakes:Hot cakes should not be turned on the

griddle until holes appear and remain onthe uncooked sicie of the hot cake.

Silellt BtltSo Eloqtlent

"Another Inember of the tradition­ally (Silent Service' has, again provedthat, although as a group they aresilent about their acUvities. individu...ally they are cOlnpetent speakers."

These words were used in the ad­judicator's sumluary, as Lt.-Cdr. (S)J. R. Sutherland's speech, "The GoldenRule", was judged winner of the Gol­den Gavel Public Speaking Contest,­held in theCouncilChaInbet, City~:fall, Victoria, recently.

For the 'third consecutive year amelnbel' of the RCN has _w~h thecoveted Golden, Gavel.

In 1953 Conlnlissioned Office]\. (SB)R. F. Moxam started the frend. Th~

foUo'Wing year saw it going to, ActingSub-Lt. (8) Ross Murray, with his'speech, uThe Crown and Canada". '

Lt.,,:,Cdr. (8) Sutherland was pre­sented with a Ininiature Gol9.en ,Gavel.He is a t present ,serving as training'officer, HMC Supply School, Naclen.

SURVIVING IN THE WILDERNESS'Eager Beavers' Catl Even Lunch on Poplar Bark

D ID YOU KNOW that moose lipsare a gastronomic delicacy, that

the inside bark of the poplar is ediblefrom first sap until July, that a para­chute makes an excellent shelter? Theseare some of the things that membersof the ship's company of HMCS Labra­dor learned during this past winterwhile on course at the RCAF SurvivalTraining School.

Survival training is usually confinedto aircrew of the Air Force and a fewNavy pilots, but due to the nature ofthe work in which the Labrador is en­gaged, non-flying personnel from thatship were selected for the course. Whenthe oppo~tunity was presented in Janu­ary there were many volunteers who.thought that the silent solitude of anigloo would be a good escape from theraucous cacophony of chipping ham­mers, air chisels, riveting guns andother normal irritants of a ship's refit.The ten who' were chosen to take thecourse and who found out how wrongthey could be were:

Lt.-Cdr. Peter J. E. Lloyd, RN; Chap­lain(P) T. L. Jackson, Lieut. M. N.Collis, RN; CPO R. H. Player, PO G. C.Bell, PO J. S. Gale, PO W. M. Daoust,Ldg. Sea. B. W. Bell, AB W. D. Mooresand AB B. J. Laszewski.

The school is located at Station Ed­monton and here the indoctrinationlectures are given for the first fourdays. It was 37 below zero the morn­ing'that the 40 members of the courseboarded the bus at Edmonton to travel150 miles west to the bush camp atHargwen, within sight of the Rockies.Here, camped on the bank of the Mc­Leod River, the students lived for threedays learning shelter construction, snaresetting, snow-shoeing and other winterbush lore.

They also learned how to go hungr~.

Each man is issued a box' of emergencyrations for one day and told that it isall he will get for the next thrt:e days.He makes it last but he doesn't enjoy

·it. There is some satisfaction, though,in bathing, stripped to the waist, at a.hole cut in the river ice with the tem­perature at 25 below-the view of themountains is magnificent.

Separated into groups of five andaccompan'ied by civilian guides, thestudents move out from this base campthrough pathless bush and muskeg tos~t up C\lmp in separated areas ab0!1t,

PO George Bell, q shipwright, prepares to get into his "fighter trench" for the night.

In bush camp south of Hargwen, Alberta, (left 10 right): Cpl. John Florence, RCAF; Lt.-Cdr. Peter!.loyd, RN; Flo Ronald Nelson, RCAF, and Chaplain Thomas Jackson, RCN.

Page twenty-three

tEbougbts _bile tEbawingin an 3Jgloo

SURVIVAL rules are unwrittenBut many and varied they -be;

Pass not a friend-.on the trail,He may -be the next meal fo~ thee.

Never shake hands, with a stranger,At the sight of red meat he may bite.

Live off the land if you have to,Let others go hungry that night.

Seniority must rule the ration~'

If you're junior, snatch what you can;When you'~e guzzled' your share of the chocolate,

Steal more from a thriftier man.

And tell someone else in the morningTo turn out and -build up the blaze.

Labour's for fools and for weaklings .'To- survive you must eat, drink and la~e.

Prey on the women and chil4ren,The inJured and 'chronically ill;

Snatch up the victuals of babies-They may not survive, but yoit will.

-P.I.E.L.

seven miles distant..· The -60-poundpack, deep snow, beaver dams, unevenground and an empty stomach try aman's soul; also his back and l~gs.

Then on arrival, with his last ounce, of strength he must construct a shelterand bunk for the night and get supper.Fortunately, for those who took thecourse in February, a Chinook madecamping and playing trapper not at all

r unpleasant. Course members who werelucky enough to be with PO Shpt.George Bell had a most comfortablecamp~ If you are forced to survive inthe bush by all means arrange to getstranded with a cheerful shipwright.Bew~iskered and filthy dirty from 10,

days in the bush, the course was takenback to Edmonton and flown north ina Cl19 to Cambridge Bay on VictoriaIsland. Six and a half hours by planeand six and a half miles on foot fromthe bay brought the party to theircamp on a frozen inland lake. Therethe Eskimo guides had constructed sev­eral igloos and these were "home" -foJ;a week. The universal feeling of mengetting into an untenanted igloo for thefirst -time is that this is the coldesthabitation in the ,world. Cheer up! Itget~worse.

The next morning, equipped with'snow knives and saws, the studentswere taught the mysteries of snow­block cutting, igloo building and' thatsupreme test of human endurance, the"fighter trench". This last device ismade _by cutting a shallow trench aboutthree feet wide in the snow, buildingup the sides with two rows of snowblocks and roofing it over with Inoreblocks. Each man is required to spenda night and eat two meals in this shel­ter. He has a small primus stove' andtwo hours of fuel to cook with-smallcomfort indeed at 55 below.

But all is not lost. After 'a night ina fighter trench, the igloo seems likea cosy refuge for the next five days.Within that shelter you can eat youremergency rations out of unwasheddishes (no fuel to melt dishwater), com­plete with caribou. ha~r from your mittsand bedding, and dream only of foodand warmth. The great truth of thisphase is, ,"You won't be comfortablein an igloo, but you will survive".

The members of Labrador returnedto their ship confident that they couldsurvive in the Arctic in winter andwith a profound respect for the Eskimoswho have lived there for so long.-T.L.J.

BEM RECOGNIZES .SEAMAN'S BRAVERY·Her Majesty the Queen has approved

the award of the British Empire Medalto Able Seaman J. Richard Grenier,22, of Drurnmondville, 'P.Q., for his res­cue last fall of a boy trapped on a steepcliff in Quebec Cf~y overlooking the $t.Lawrence River. '

Fran~ois Vaillancourt, 12, becametrapped three-quarters of the way upa treacherous cliff over Toulon Road,near the Quebec Yacht Club, on Sep­tember 26.

AB Grenier, a naval' staresman atD'Iberville, naval training establishmentin Quebec City, was attracted by acrowd below the cliff and saw the ladsuspended from a ledge by his fingers.

Grenier got a 150-length of cordagefrom the yacht club and scaled thetreacherous shale cliff, reaching youngVaillancourt as the boy was almost atthe end of his endurance.

The sailor braced himself on acrumbling ledge and lowered theyoungster to safety by means of arunning loop around the latter's leg.Grenier himself was now' stranded,since most of the hand and footholdshe had used on the way up had crum­bled under his weight and the overhangof the cliffside above precluded anascent. '

He clung to a ledge for an hourwhile attempts were made to get help.Finally, a Sillery policeman, ConstableLeon Sirois, with the aid of bystanderJean Marie Fradette', lowered a ropeby which the sailor. climbed the remain­ing 50 feet of the cliff. He. was suffer­ing from bruises about the face andhead and lacerated hands from theclimb and from rocks which had falrenon him during the rescue attempts.

The citation states: "There is no doubtthat the bravery of Able Seaman Gre­nier was responsible for saving the lifeof twelve - year - old Fran~ois Vaillan-court." .-

. The rescue took place- immediatelybehind _Bois de Coulonge, the residence~£ Hon. E.'Gaspard Fauteux, Lieuten­ant-Governor of Quebec.

: - , , - >. ~:

OfFICEI( HEADSM(lBIL~ AjS UNll'

, Among re'cent appointments affectingthe Torpedo Anti-Submarine School atStadacona is that of Lieut. Fred Lubinwho has left the First Canadian Mine­sweeping Squadron to take over newduties as officer-in-charge of theschool's Mobile A/S Training UnitNo.1.

Page twenty-four

THE NAVY PLAYS

Controlmen HaveEdge in MaratllOn

Among her many capabilities theMagnificent provides better than aver­age recreational facilities. By winningthe ship's medley marathon for thethird successive time in mid-May air­craft controlmen proved that fresh airand plenty of hard exercise on the flightdeck give them an advantage over otherdepartments.

The marathon, involving over 200men, featured heaving-line throwing,rope - splicing, hammock - bar - circling,wheel - barrow, cracker - eating and amystery event - guzzling a bitter bev­erage while eating a green - colouredcream and pastry concoction.

In the lift wells after the day's fly­ing, two volley-ball leagues continueuntil sunset; simultaneously one or moredeck hockey games take place on theflight deck. Long-distance runners intraining may circle the flight deck­about a third of a mile. After sunset,with the after lift raised, the list wellbecomes a theatre, with two showsnightly. SRE programs of news, sports,religious periods, music and evening

disc jockey shows, begin at 0630 andterminate at "pipe down" with an eve­ning devotional period.

Dawn brings midshipmen and SeaCadets to the flight deck for PT orrecreational games. After half an hourof being hurdled, jumped upon, andeven rammed, the box horse is stowedaway in a sponson and, with the lastnotes of the bugle call "flying stations",the ACs are on the go again, rangingaircraft for the first detail.

In sports ashore, the ship's softballteam won 6-4 against a team from theU.S. Naval Station in San Juan, butin Bermuda lost by 11-1 in a gamewith the USAF at Kindley Field. Theship's soccer team, however, held asurprised team from HMS Superb .toa 3-3 tie.

Stadacona BeatsVSAF Boxers

In a return boxing tournament withthe USAF's Ernest Harmon Base inNewfoundland held recently in Stada­cona, the RCN won 4...;3. A total of 12bouts were carded.

One of the most interesting bouts wasbetween AB Karl Kowalski (145 Ibs.)of Simcoe, Ont., and AC2 Paul Frazier(147 lbs.), Helton, North Carolina. Theboys kept the crowd on their feet mostof the time, with Kowalski getting thenod in a unanimous decision.

The program was staged under thedirection of Lieut. Robert Dewhirst,P & RT officer, with the prizes beingpresented by Commodore E. P: Tisdall,Commodore RCN Barracks, Halifax.

League GrowsTo 24 Teams

With the start of summer sports inthe Pacific Command, the InterdivisionalLeague has increased from 20 to 24 teams.

During the month of May each teamparticipated in three boat-pulling regat­tas and one softball game. In additionto this, all interdivisional teams entereda ·22 shoot-off for the "Halfway House"Trophy. .

The May "Cock 0' the Barracks"ended in a tie between School of Music"B" and Naden Writers. This resultedin a play-off in softball, with NadenWriters winning.

Shown above are officers of the Royal Canadian Naval Sailing Association's Halifax Squadronfor 1955. Left to right are Lt.-Cdr. (E) (A/E) G. H. F. Poole-Warren, Fleet Captain; Lt.-Cdr. W. S. Blandy,Rear-Commodore; Cdr. F. W. Bradley, Commodore; Lt.-Cdr. E. L. Pendlebury, Secretory, and CPO CharlesChurch, Vice-Commodore. (HS-34917)

Shearwater PlansBusy Summer

The summer sports program forShearwater promises a busy season.

The first station sports operationalcommittee has been formed, composedof one man from every department onthe station with Lieut. D. J. Loney, offootball fame, as chairman and CPOT. M. Mottershead, secretary.

The committee decided to run a semi­annual "Cock 0' the Barracks" tourna­ment, something which has proved suc­cessful in otper establishments.

In the summer tournament, sports in­clude softball, touch rugby (six-man),volleyball, (outdoor), tug-o'-war, tab­loid of sports, medley marathon, andcross country. There are 13 teams insoftball, ten in touch rugby, ten involleyball, and nine in tt!g-o'-war.

Meanwhile, the usual representativeteams are entered in various leagues.

Cornwallis BoxersAmass Honours

Cornwallis won top honours in theAtlantic Command Boxing Champion­ships at Stadacona recently. They col­lected five points to Stadacona's two,

Page twenty-five

,., ........-..-.... ~_.;-

"

with Shearwater, Magr<ijicent and Haidascoring one point each.

The outstanding bout was between'AB Nelson Lewis (147 lbs.)' of theHaida and AB Karl Kowalski (145lbs.) of' the Micmac, with Lewi's win­ning by a unanimous decision.

Another good fight finished with ABDavid Barber (147 lbs.) , Cornwallis,scoring a second round TKO over ABJohn McMillan (151 lbs.), Micmac, inthe' light middleweight finals. Aftera bad beating in round one, McMillanwas unable to answer the bell for thesecond.

Rear-Admiral R. E. S. Bidwell, FlagOfficer Atlantic Coast, presented theprizes.

1nter·ServieeGolf Won by l1CN

In a tri-servicemen's competition' atUniversity Golf Cours'e in Vancouver,the Navy team won by a wide margin.

With a total of 50! points, they de­feated RCAF, with 33 lloints, and Army,with 24 points.

In tri-service officers' competition, .theNavy scored two' wins, one at RCEMEChilliwack and the other at Gorge ValeGolf Course in Victoria.

Boxers EnterThree Coniests

The boxing team in the Pacific Com­mand represented' the RCN on threeoccasions d,uring May.

Here are members of the Air Armament Section's Rifle Team which took top honours in Shear·water's Interpart . 22 Rifle Shoot with a score' of 2,660 'out of a possible 3,000. The winning teamis shown in Shearwater Rifle Range. Front row, left to right: CPO James McGill, Saskatoon. Cd.Airman A. E. Croft, Dartmouth, N.S., and CPO Ira Johnson, Halifax and St. John, N.B. Rear row,left to right: CPO George Bussy, Dartmouth, N.S.; Ldg. Sea. Edmond Corter, Kamloop$, B.C., andCPO Harry Carter, Dartmouth, N.S. The highest individual score of 549 was obtained by CPOMcGill (Air Armament). (DNS·13565)

O~e of the lighter moments of the recellttou~ of Royal Canadian Navy Atlantic Com·mand, establishments by 28 foreign militaryattaches and advisers was a stint in the b9,'H'"ing alleys of, HMCSStadacona. Here is"\:!promising beginning in five,.pins for Brig. P. C.Gupta, Military and Nav",1 Adviser, India. (HS·35730)

On May 19 and 20 the RCN had fourcontestants in the International Tourna­ment of Champions, held in Victoria.Two of the Navy boxers were finalists:Ord. Sea. Bernard Brosseau, in theheavyweight division, and AB Ted Her­rington, Ught-middleweight.

In a benefit match, staged at Van­couver, May 28, the Navy had two wins,by Ldg. Sea. Trent Ketcheson, middle­weight, and Ord. Sea. Ray Davidson,lightweight.

P & RT FacilitiesFor A.rmy Units

To assist local Army units in theVictoria area who are without indoorfacilities, equipment and trained physi­cal and recreational personnel, the P &RT Centre at Naden has been allocatedfor their use two hours each week.Three units are involved.

An RCN team is entered in the Vic­toria Senior "A"Softball League. ASenior "C" softball team has been en­tered in' the Lower Vancouver IslandLeague while an RCN lacrosse team isin the Victoria Senior "B" League.

Shipwrights won the Cozp.mand Bowl­ing League.

The RCN Golf Association won twooutside competitions in April, one a tri­Service competition at Comox, B.C., theother against Bremerton Navy Yard,Washington. The Sports Shop Trophywas successfully defended by Naden forthe third consecutive month in Com­mand play.

Shearwater BestIn Hoop Series

An intermediate "A" basketball teamfrom RCAF Station, Trenton, N.S.,played a series of hoop games withMaritime air stations recently andcame Qut at the wrong end of a 64..50encounter with fly-types of Shea~water.

Volleyball TitleTo Electrical "A."

Electrical "A" won Stadacona's in­terpart volleyball championship:;; bybouncing Officers out of the finals intwo straight. In the semi-finals, Offi­cers had blanked Gunnery 2-0 andElectrical "A" knocked out Electrical"B" by the same score.

Royal Canadian Navy and the Merchant Service during theWorld War were recalled on Battle of the Atlantic Sunday, May 15. This is the impressive scene in the Memorial Arena ;n Victoria where a con­gregation of 4,000 naval personnel, veterans and members of the general public observed the occasion. The service was conducted by Chaplain (P)Harry R. Pike, Command Chaplain, and the sermon was preached by the Most Rev. Harold E. Sexton, Archbishop of British Columbia. At St. Anne'sAcademy in Victoria solemn high mass was celebrated by Command Chaplain (RC) J~ E. Whelly. The sermon was given by His Excellency the MostRev. James M. Hill, Bishop of Victoria. Men from Naden, naval cadets from Venture and student nurses from St. Joseph's Hospital formed a choirat -this service.

---~~-'-'----_._--- '~~~~- ._..-_.__ .. ,---

LOWER DECK' PROMOTIONS

,~ model of CGS (later HMCS) Canada, the RCN's first training vessel, was presented to theMarotlme Museu?, of Canada, Halifax, recently by Davie Shipbuilding Ltd., of Lauzon, Que. Shownat the presentallon at Naval Headquarters are Rear-Admiral H F Pullen Ch'ef f NIP IE C· R II N' I • . '.' ,I ° avo ersonne '

. '. usse, ava Hlst~roan; Construclor Commodore Rowland Baker, Naval Construclor.in-Chie/and Richard Lowery, preSIdent of. the shipbuilding company. (0-0886) ,

Following is a further list of promo­tions of men on the lower deck. Thelist is arranged in alphabetical order,with each man's new rating, branch andtrade group shown opposite his name.

ABBOTT, Woodrow A P2TD3ALDRIDGE, Harold LSLM2

BATCHELOR, Kenneth C LSPR2BEAUSOLEIL, Albert J LSMA1BILLARD, Willis R P2CV2BISHOP, Boyd B P2EA3BROWN, William H LSCV1BUICK, David A P2TD2

CAMERON, Stan J LSLR1CASSIDY, Francis J LSLR1CASTLE, Alexander G CICS4CHASE, Harvey A P2TD2CHATHAM, William A P2MA3CLARK, William D ..•........... PICR2CLARKE, Donald E LST.DlCONNOR, Robert V PICR2CORNELIUS, Paul F LSRPlCOUTURIER, Andre J P2CR2COYLE, Louis D PICV2CRANDALL, Frank L P2EM2CROCKER, Robert Ii LSEMlCROFT, George H .. ; LSEMl

DALTON, John J ' LSPWlDAVIS, Arthur F LSCRlDEAN, James W '.. P2RP2DEGEN, William E PICV2DIXON, Charles E C2CR3DODD, John D LSLM2DOUCETTE, Robert J LSCRlDOUGLAS, James A ; LSCS2DRUMMOND, Cecil W P2CV2DUNCAN, Edward G PICR2DUNN, Thomas W LSLMl

EATON, Harvey S PICS4EDMEADS, Ralph W LSLM2

F:ARRELL, Morley G LSEM 1FISHER, Harold F PICV2FOBERT, Bernard D LSTDiFRASER, Robert N ; LSRP2

GARDNER, Ernest J P2EM2GILLIES, Robert D LSEMlGRAY, Robert T LSRP1GREENGRASS, Charles F LSDV2GRIFFITHS, Robert G P2EM2GROVES, Orville B C2MR3GUINTA, Frank J PICV2

HARVEY, Henderson J LSAA1HAUFSCHILD, William C LSLMlHELLINGS, Robert C LSTDlHEMSWORTH, Bernard W P1SH3HENRY, Alexander. LSCR1HEPBURN, Mitchell F LSTDlHEWITT, Ian B P2CV2HOLMES, Richard E LSLM2HOOEY, Earl V LSLM2HUBER,Archie L LSRP2HYNES, Gregory LSNS2

IONSON, Clifford , LSRC1

JAMIESON, James R PICV2JEAN, Charles J , P2EM2

KEIGHAN, James R LSRP2KENNEDY, Morley G ,:. ;LSEM1KENYON, bouglas H PIAA3KILLBRIDE, William R LSAAlKIRK, James M ~ P1CR2

Page twenty-eight

KIRK, Ronald LSCV1KOSTEK, Michael. P2AA2

LABBE, Romeo P LSRClLAMPMAN, BruceT. ~ LSM02LANE, James K. , LSLMlLAPLANTE, Gerald D LSLM2LEE, Kenneth E LSLM2LENTINE, Salvatore B LSLM2LIESCH, Lawrerice R LSLR1LLOYD, Kenneth L LSCR1LOCKAU, Albert L C2ET4LYNGARD, Donald J LSEM1

MAILLETTE, Rolland J LSLM2MANNIX, George H C2CV3MARTIN, James M P2CV2MATHIAS, Fernand J LSLM 1MATSUBARA, Harry T LSQMlMERRITT, Donald L. LSLR2MICALLEF, Frank J P2CR2MITCHELL, Donald S P2AA2MOIR,Norman R LSCRlMOORE, Alexander J (SEM1MORGAN, Gerald D LSEM1MORRIS, Frederick G , LSLM2MacDONALD, George E LSAA1MacDONALD, Graham D LSEA3M ISAA~ D 'd M .,ac ,aVl LSCRlMacLEO ,Donald C LSRPlMcALONEY, Hazen I P1CV2McGOWAN, Harold A PIER4McINTYRE, Cecil H P2EM2

NOBLE, Robert E P2SE2

OJA, Howard J PICR2O'NEILL, Vincent H LSEM1

PARKS, Donald A LSCVlPENDLEBURY, Roger J PICV2

PICARD,Guy J LSEMlPRESTON, Victor L. LSLM2PUSHIE, Donald R LSLM2

QUESNEL, Gerard J : P2ED3

RAMUSSEN, Donald C LSCR1RENSHAW, Arnold R PICV2ROSS, George A LSCRlROSS, Kenneth G LSEM 1RYCROFT, Vernon S P2RP2

SLESSOR, Allan J LSC:VlSMITH, Gordon J PICR2SOKOLIUK, Michael LSCVlSTEWART, David A LSCVlST. JOHN, Bernard J ' P2CV2SWAN, Douglas W P1SH4SYMINGTON, Harvey L PICR2SYMONS, Robert W P2CV2

'fAIT, William M LSLM2TAYLOR, Philip E P2QR2THOMAS, Royal E , LSAAlTHOMPSON; John LSDV2THORPE, Geoffrey P LSMAlTINSLAY, Donald E LSAAlTUCK~R, Francis D , LSCRl

VLIET; LeRoy M PICR2

WALKER, Raymond H , LSCRlWATSON, Jack E P2ED3WATSON, James L. LSLMlWHITELEY, Angus R LSRc2WILLIAMSON, Murray E : .. P2QR2WULOWKA, Olie E LSCRl

YABLONSKI, Victor LSLM2YAKABUSKI, James A P2CR2

ZINCK, Harold E LSCS2

_.-,---------------'-----------

NAVALLORECORNER NO. 30

MIDGET CRUISERS

E,X-CHlttESe CRUISE~~ 'N'HG HAl'~ 'Put" H~I'

MOUNTED G 5.5 I~. GUNS, I AIR~RAFl/_4 TORPE1>OTU&e~ 6 3.4IH. uONS, ON A DISPLAc.eMEN1

OF 2500 TONS •••

11.000~7-55

N.P. 575-1373

;'

,. '~.

OTTA,WAEDMOND CLOUTIER

Printer to the Queen's Most Exc~llent Ma~~sty

1955